Encounter the Dark Angels
by CaiLing
Summary: The Bladebreakers are off to Australia for the start of the new beyblade season. What happens when they befriend their main competitors? and what about the other strange Australasians they'll be battling? Please R&R!
1. The Wonderful Land of 'Oz'

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or any of its characters (though I sort of wish I did) so please don't sue me.

Ok people, this is my first ever fanfic so forgive me if it's not as good as the material you guys are used to. Please R&R, any comments good or bad will be appreciated.

Note: this story takes place a year after the events in the first season of the anime.

"All right!!" Tyson cheered, "Australian Tournament here I come!!" He was psyched about the chance to beybattle again in an official tournament.

It is true that the Bladebreakers and the other beyblade teams haven't been official teams for the past few months but the guys from the Bladebreakers did stay together and met often to practise as they had decided when the Beyblading season started again they would sign up as the Bladebreakers again.

--Flashback--

The Bladebreakers had just arrived at the airport in Japan after winning the World Tournament in Russia. They were surprised at the large crowd of fans greeting them as they stepped off the plane.

'This is great!' Tyson thought "Yo people!!!" he called out to all the fans while the others just waved, Kai was a little embarrassed to be seen with Tyson but let it slip and waved as well.

"Tyson, can I have your autograph?"

"Rei, will you go out with me?"

"Kai, did you tattoo your face?"

The fans asked many typical fan questions. Tyson was happily signing all the autograph books, beyblades and other various things people shoved in front of him. He was after all the one to win the match against Tala of the Demolition Boys and get everyone's bitbeasts back for them. This made him the most popular one of the Bladebreakers, despite Rei and Kai's good looks.

--Flashback ends--

Now the new season was about to start and Mr Dickenson had called all the members of the Bladebreakers to announce that the first tournament would be held in Australia at the famous Sydney Beyblading Stadium.

This is how they reacted:

Tyson,"Cool, now I can win some more beybattles!"

Max,"Really that's great!"

Kenny, "I wish I had known sooner, I could've improved the beyblades, done some research on the new teams..."

Rei, "'bout time too, can't wait."

Kai, "Whatever, count me in."

And so, they had packed their stuff in preparation for the challenges that awaited them in Australia.

"Hey guys!" Tyson called out when he saw the others who were already at the airport waiting for their flight.

"Tyson!" Max replied and slapped Tyson on the back. "Great to see you again." (They had seen each other the previous day to beybattle, but they were after all, best buddies!)

"It's good to see you all together again," Mr Dickinson said.

"Hey little dudes!" Tyson's Grandpa greeted as he headed towards the group carrying a rather large suitcase.

"Grandpa...?!" Tyson said. Typical.

"What...you didn't think I would miss this tournament did ya!"

"S'pose not."

The broadcast announced "Flight Q311 to Australia, all passengers please board."

"That's our flight, we should head to the plane now." Mr Dickenson said and everyone followed him.

They had just arrived in Australia and were on the BBA bus that was taking them to their hotel which was near the stadium. On the way they all looked outside admiring the scenery, even Kai, although he preferred to just look in silence (unlike some people).

"Everything here is so modern," Max commented.

"Yeah," Tyson said in response, "Even the old buildings don't look that old."

Kenny, "Well, that's because Western people have only occupied Australia since the 18th century. Before them only the Indigenous people had lived here for a few thousand years and they didn't have buildings 'cos they believed they belonged to the land, and not that they owned the land, unlike the way we think now."

'They must've been pretty damn primitive,' Kai thought.

Just then they drove past the Sydney Beyblading Stadium and even Kai couldn't hide his admiration for the amazing architecture. It was clean white and slightly resembled the Sydney Opera House with a few wavelike shaped features on the roof. "It's beautiful..." he thought to himself while everyone else made comments on how grand and modern it looked.

"Ok, it's best that you all should get a good nights rest, you can do some sight seeing tomorrow morning," Mr Dickenson said sleepily, "I'll be in the room across from you if any of you need me." he yawned as he walked to his room.

All of them were quite excited about the coming events and thought they would never get to sleep but of course eventually they did fall asleep.

None of them had any idea what was in store for them.

Ok ok... I know this chapter is pretty boring, but it is after all just the introduction I promise the next one will be more interesting so please review and stay tuned!


	2. The Dark Angels

"Tyson! Get up!!" Rei yelled from the lounge area. It was 10am in the morning. Kai had been up since 5 practising his beyblading moves. Kenny was updating his data on the other teams and beyblades in preparation for the tournament. Rei was reading the local paper, the comic section as his English wasn't too good and Tyson was still sprawled on his bed. He was awake but sleepy so he ignored Rei's calls. "Another 5 minutes," he mumbled quietly.

Max thought, 'Maybe I should get him up.' He couldn't think of anything else to do so he pounced on Tyson in his bed.

"Hey Tyson, you will miss out on breakfast if you stay here!" he said with a cheerful face, as always.

"k, k I'm up." Tyson said as he got up still tired.

Once he was freshened up the five of them went down to the restaurant for breakfast. As usual, Tyson had four times as much as everyone else. By this time everyone was used to it although they still commented and warned him of getting fat, to which he would reply with his mouth full, "I have a fast metabolism!"

After breakfast they all went to a park nearby where they saw a lot of kids battling each other in the many dishes they have there. It was a fine and sunny day and it was good to get out for some fresh air.

"Hey look," Kenny said and pointed to a large crowd of people gathered around a bey dish.

Tyson called out, "A battle! Let's watch!" and ran towards the crowd. The rest followed closely behind.

They made their way through the crowd so they could see what was going on and noticed two teenagers about their age facing each other for battle. There was a tall tough looking guy, tanned with long blonde hair with his launcher ready.

His opposition was an Asian girl with shoulder length black hair. She wasn't short but was dwarfed by the guy. She wore a white tank top with a strange symbol embroidered on the front, grey cargo pants and a black choker with matching cuffs. By the expression of their faces it was obvious that it was the guy that challenged the girl and she appeared to be quite confident.

"So, you've decided to go up against me eh?" she said, "Good luck trying to beat me, you'll need it."

"We'll see about that missy!" he replied.

And with that they both launched their beyblades. The girl's purple and black one against the guy's yellow one. At first they just spun around the dish none of them ready to make the first move.

"Attack!" The guy called out.

"You know what to do," the girl commanded. As soon as she said this her beyblade rammed into the yellow one and knocked it out of the dish. The guy was shocked and the girl smiled with satisfaction.

"Typical amateur," and with that she laughed a little.

"You go gal," another girl said and approached her. This girl turned a lot of heads, especially the guys. She was quite attractive with emerald green eyes and long wavy blonde hair. It seemed that she knew this too as she showed off her figure wearing a dark pink mini skirt, a cute pastel pink flowing top and white leg warmers on her legs.

An Aboriginal girl with brown eyes also cheered, "Yet another victory!" she was also pretty in a different way from the blonde. Her dark brown hair was tied into a high ponytail with lots of small plaits coming from it and it was kept away from her hair with a headband with the aboriginal flag design on it. She wore a long olive green peasant top and white flares.

A short girl with dark blue hair in a ponytail hidden under a red headwrap just smiled in approval and patted the Asian's back. She was short but she seemed confident. She wore a violet tee with a grey vest over it and 3/4 length jeans and doc martens.

"Hey, you there!" Tyson called out from the crowd, everyone turned to him, "I challenge you to a beybattle!"

A young boy who was standing next to him whispered "You've got to be crazy, you don't even have a chance against her, she's the captain of the Dark Angels!"

"Dark Angels?" Tyson asked, "Who are they, eh?"

The Asian girl chuckled, "Obviously you haven't heard of us, this is Sara," pointing to The Blonde, "This is Kylie," pointing to the Aboriginal, "this is Bella," pointing to the blue haired girl, "And I'm Ling, the captain of the Dark Angels. We're the best team in the South and we plan to win the Australian tournament. Still wanna challenge me?"

"Of course, I'm not gonna back out now!" Tyson stated.

"This should be interesting Tyson," Ling commented.

"How did you know my name?" a surprised Tyson asked.

Ling smiled a little and replied, "While you and your team were battling in the tournaments last year my team were training and doing research on other teams. And since the Bladebreakers won all the tournaments of course we would have found stuff on you guys."

"I see, so are we battling?" Tyson asked.

"To be honest, I'd be honoured to battle you-" Ling started.

Tyson interrupted, "All right!" and he got his launcher and blade ready.

Ling continued, "-However I have plans for the rest of the day. We'll battle tomorrow, same time same place, got it?"

Tyson was a little disappointed but he agreed anyway.

Back at the hotel they were all gathered around Kenny (except for Kai who leant against the wall looking cool, as always) who told them what he found out about the Dark Angels. "The Dark Angels are one of the best teams in the world. Everyone in Australia knows of them."

"You serious?! But they're all girls," Rei gasped.

"Don't judge them by their gender or their looks. They're called the Dark Angels for a reason. That captain wasn't kiddin' when she said that they are the best in the South. They've so far been undefeated! I can't believe I never heard of them before" Kenny exclaimed.

Tyson asked, "Anything I should know about the captain?"

"Hrm, let me check," Kenny replied and he skimmed through the data he had obtained, "Yes, here you can read it for yourself."

Tyson leant to see the screen:

Name: Ling Choy

Age: 15

Bitbeast: (Oxilibra) ox type

Next to the data was a picture of Ling. Tyson noticed the intimidating purple colour of her eyes. Her outfit of a white tank top and grey cargos made her seem like a tomboy and the matching cuffs and choker made her appear a bit gothic. He was nervous about battling her. She was so sure of herself and with good reason too.

Did he even have a chance against her?

Hope you all liked it! Please review, even if it's just to let me know that you've read it. I don't know how many people are actually reading this fic!


	3. An Unexpected Meeting

Kai got up at 5am the next day and decided to go train at the park since they had beydishes there.

He left a note for the others telling them to find him there if he didn't come back. He expected the park to be empty and for the heck of it he decided to go to the dish where they met the Dark Angels the previous day. However, once he was in view of it he saw a silhouette of a figure. Curiosity got the better of him as he walked towards the figure.

"Who's there!" a female voice called out.

The voice sounded familiar to Kai, "Ling?" he asked and stepped into the light of the lamp post.

"Well if it isn't Kai from the Bladebreakers," she said and smiled a little.

"I didn't think anyone else would be here this early."

"Same, that's why I get up at this time, so I can train alone."

"Great minds think alike I suppose."

"Guess so."

"While you're here, care to battle?" Ling asked casually.

"Whatever," Kai replied.

They both launched their beyblades into the dish. Both of them skillfully defending and avoiding the other's attack until they both attacked.

"Oxilibra attack!!!" Ling commanded.

Her bitbeast appeared from the blade. It was a silver ox and was surprisingly graceful. At the same time Kai called out for Dranzer and the magnificent red phoenix appeared as well.

Both of them attacked silmutaneously causing the beyblades to rebound and fly out of the dish landing in front of the beybladers. It was a tie.

"You put up a good fight Kai, I'm impressed," Ling said after getting over the initial shock.

"Ditto."

The two of them ended up practising by themselves in the neigbouring dishes. However, both had something else in mind.

Ling snuck a peek at Kai as he shouted commands at his beyblade and thought, "There's something about him. He's the captain yet he seems so detached from his team."

Kai also had his thoughts of the captain of the Dark angels, "She's not like most girls, that's for sure. It seems like she's always calm and steady. Prepared for anything..."

Kai ended up going back to the hotel to eat breakfast with the other Bladebreakers. He chose not to mention his encounter with Ling, afraid he'd give them the wrong idea. As soon as they finished their meal (in Tyson's case four meals) they decided to go to the park to practise for Tyson's battle against Ling.

Kai taught Tyson some moves that he was certain he could use against Ling without letting on that he'd battled her before.

Meanwhile on the other side of the park Ling and the other Dark Angels were having a break from blading.

"So, what do you girls think of the Bladebreakers?" Sara asked flicking her long wavy hair.

"Seem all right I suppose," Bella said dismissively.

"Did you notice the guy with the long pony tail?" Kylie asked.

Sara said, "Ok, you mean Rei? Yeah, he's pretty cute," then she turned to Ling who hadn't said anything the whole time. Sara asked her, "Hey Ling, what do you think of them?"

Ling also hadn't told her team mates of the encounter with Kai either.

Ling said simply, "Just another team."

Kylie, who had a cheerful smile said, "Aw, c'mon, you'll be battling one of them today, surely you gotta be thinking of them."

Sara then asked, "Hey, are you hiding something?"

Ling looked at her with a questioning expression and asked, "Why do you ask?"

"You seem quieter than usual," then a smile spread across Sara's face, "Do you like one of them? Rei?"

Ling was caught off guard by this suggestion, "What the...why'd you think that?!" she spluttered as she started to blush a little.

Kylie and Sara 'ganged up' on Ling saying all sort of things. Kylie said that Rei was cute while Sara mentioned that he was also Chinese making them a suited pair.

"Ooh...you're blushing!" Kylie exclaimed.

Ling didn't like all the attention, "Bella! A little help would be appreciated right now!"

Bella was amused by the current situation, she could tell that Ling didn't like Rei by her reaction but just laughed, "heh heh, nah..." in response.

Ling frowned a little at Bella but it wasn't a serious one so Bella smiled a little.

Ling then straightened up and her usual calm expression returned and as the captain that she was said, "We've had a long enough break, we should start training again."

The time to battle Ling was approaching quickly and Tyson continued to train under the guidance of Kai, Kenny and Dizzi while battling Rei and Max.

"C'mon Tyson, you can do better than that!" Kai exclaimed, disappointed, "You've got to stay focussed or you'll never beat her!"

"All right, all right, but could we have something to eat first?" Tyson said while putting his hand on his tummy and smiling innocently.

The others sighed. Max laughed a little and said, "But we just had breakfast!"

"Aw...," Tyson whined but then launched his blade again.

Later that day the Dark Angels stood by the beydish waiting for the Bladebreakers to arrive. By the time the Bladebreakers arrived a rather large crowd of kids had gathered around the dish hoping to witness an impressive battle.

"Tyson," Ling greeted calmly.

"Ling," Tyson greeted, "You prepared to be defeated?"

"Not likely Tyson," Ling said and smiled a little in an unfriendly way. She glanced at Kai and for a second she didn't appear so confident but quickly looked away.

"Lets battle," she said.

"Let it rip!" they both yelled as they launched their blades into the dish. The beyblades spun quickly around the dish, chasing each other.

"I'm gettin' tired of this game of cat and mouse. Oxilibra attack!" Ling shouted. The magnificent ox appeared glowing a silver colour. "Head butt!" Ling commanded. Oxilibra smashed into Tyson's beyblade causing bright sparks to be seen coming from where the two blades made contact.


	4. Ling's story

There was a loud crash as the Dragoon and Oxilibra made contact and no-one was sure who the winner was going to be. Dragoon's counter attack was strong but Oxilibra's head butt overpowered him and sent him flying out of the dish. Ling was declared the winner.

"That was quick," Ling commented, obviously unimpressed but smiled in satisfaction with yet another victory.

"Look forward to seeing you in the tournament," she said and stole a quick glance at Kai before turning around and walking away with the other Dark Angels following close by.

"Me too," Tyson said softly. He was disappointed at his loss but knew he'd find a way to defeat her, someday.

"Don't worry Tyson, you'll beat her next time!" Max said encouragingly.

"She was a strong blader with a powerful bit beast. She surprised us all," Rei said

"Yeah, except me," Kai thought.

Ling was pleased that she beat Tyson, after all, he was part of the world champion team. Though the Dark Angels were seemingly dismissive at the idea of battling Tyson they were proud of Ling and they all decided to treat themselves to pizza.

They entered the local pizza place 'Cerrachio's' which was owned by Bella's uncle.

"Uncle Elio!" Bella greeted cheerfully.

"Ah Bella," A man with a strong Italian accent greeted. He was a large guy with thick curly black hair and a moustache but a friendly face. "What are you smiling about? Haven't seen you this happy since you got your first beyblade!"

"Ling just defeated Tyson from the Bladebreakers in a beybattle!" Bella exclaimed.

"Bladebreakers?" Elio asked.

"y'know, the guys that won the world tournament last year..."

"Ah yes, I see, congratulations! One large super supreme pizza comin' up, my treat!"

So they celebrated Ling's victory eating pizza.

As usual Kai got up before sunrise the day after and went to the park to practise. He met up with Ling again and they battled each other in the same dish. Both of them used the opportunity to study each others moves.

"I s'pose I'll have to get used to seeing you around from now on won't I." Ling commented.

"S'pose so," Kai replied," I've been practising this time since I was young."

"Really? Same here, I always use this same dish too."

"Why?" Kai asked slightly curious.

"It's sort of a long story but I'll tell you." Ling had a sort of distant look in her eyes as if she was reliving her story and not just telling it.

"I started beyblading since I got my first beyblade. It was the best model at the time and I've customised it since so I can still use it."

"At the time, beyblading was still considered a boys sport and people thought it was odd for me to beyblade so much. I became fairly skilled too and even beat guys older than me."

"However, there was one boy who was very serious about his beyblading. He was a bully too. When he defeated his opponents he wasn't satisfied until he completely destroyed the beyblade beyond repair."

"I wanted to be the one to defeat him and that's when I started this early in the morning. I even improved over time but his power just overwhelmed me."

"And, like the others, my beyblade was destroyed beyond repair. I was extremely upset." She had also cried too but didn't want to admit such weakness to Kai, "So instead of going home that night I sat in the centre of the dish I was defeated in, this dish. I concentrated on freeing my mind of any thoughts. I think I was meditating, I felt like I was in a trance, the yin and yang chi flowing through me in complete balance with each other. It was a strange feeling to be equally pessimistic and optimistic, not being good or bad, black or white."

"When I opened my eyes I saw a small bright blue light in the sky. It seemed to be coming closer to me. I was intrigued by it so I reached up to grab it. However, I didn't need to as it landed in my hand. The light was so bright I had to cover it until it stopped glowing. In the palm of my hand was Oxilibra. When I put the bit in my beyblade it glowed again and next thing I knew it was fixed and looked brand new without a scratch on it."

"That's why I always practise in this dish. It's where I found Oxilibra and in a sense, myself."

"Interesting," Kai said intrigued by the story she told.

"I s'pose it is," Ling said. "I can't believe I told him that story. The only person I've ever told before is Bella, why do I even trust him?" she thought.

Kai had his own thoughts, "And I thought she was odd before! She's definitely no ordinary girl if a bitbeast just comes to her like it did."

"I think I'll go now," he said and headed back to the hotel.

"See ya, Kai," She called while releasing her blade.

"Bye," he said and ran back.


	5. We Meet Again

For the first time ever Tyson was actually out of bed before the others. He was determined to improve before the tournament.

"You're up early," Kai said and smiled a rare amused smile of his.

"I can't believe she beat me so easily yesterday!" Tyson exclaimed, "I gotta get better!" Tyson only seemed a little pissed off at his loss.

Kai thought, "He's taking it a lot better than I would have, that's for sure." Kai admired this quality of Tyson although he wouldn't admit it. After all, the guy was still a relatively new beyblader.

The two of them practised with each other until breakfast time when they met up with the others at the restaurant.

As they were eating Mr Dickenson approached them.

"Hello, how are you?" he greeted

"All right," Kenny replied

"Been better," Tyson said.

"Oh, why's that?"

Kenny explained how he got defeated by the captain of the Dark Angels. Mr Dickenson's reaction came as a surprise to them all as he burst out laughing and when he calmed down said to them, "Oh, don't be too disappointed. The Dark Angels have a reputation for being one of the best teams around. By the way, the tournament starts tomorrow but there's an opening ceremony today that all the contestants have to attend."

"That's odd," Rei commented, "They never did that before."

"This is the first time for Australia to hold an official beyblade tournament so they thought they'd give it their own touch."

"I see."

"Oh yeah, did I mention that it starts in less than an hour?" Mr Dickenson asked.

"What?!" Kenny, "We've got to get ready!"

At that, the Bladebreakers got their light blue BBA cloaks and caught the BBA bus to the Beyblade Stadium. When they arrived they saw a lot of other teams in their varying coloured cloaks.

"Rei!!" a familiar female voice called out.

"Mariah!" Rei greeted and they gave each other a loving hug that suggested more than friendship. She was followed closely by Lee, Kevin and Gary, all of them wearing their orange cloaks.

"Weren't expecting to see you guys here!" Tyson said.

"Coming second in the Asia tournament last year meant we qualified for this one," Lee explained.

"Interesting," Kai thought, "Does that mean that they qualified too..?"

"I saw the All Starz earlier and I heard the Majestics were competing too." Kevin stated.

"Interesting," Kai said out loud, "guess they did," he thought.

"Speak of the devil," Tyson said as both teams the All Starz in their hot blue cloaks and the Majestics in their purple ones approached the group.

"Hey guys!" Tyson said and waved.

"Hi!" they replied simultaneously.

"Thought you guys didn't like teamwork," Kai stated in a questioning way (if that makes any sense!) to the Majestics.

"We've been training as a team these past few months and out teamwork skills have improved since we last battled," Robert said.

"Yeah, don't expect an easy battle with us this round," Enrique smirked.

"Emily, Where's my mum?" Max asked.

"Oh, Judy hasn't arrived yet, she's got some business to take care of back in America but she'll be here tomorrow for the tournament," She replied.

Before he could reply all the bladers noticed a crowd gathering near the entrance.

"Wonder who just arrived," Tyson thought.

"Could it be...?" Kai wondered.

"Hey! The Dark Angels are here! I gotta see them!" a young boy shouted as he ran past the group.

"Yeah, I wanna see Sara, she's pretty!" another boy said as he followed the first one.

"Thought so," Kai thought.

The group headed towards the large gathering of fans and made their way through the crowd and just as Kai expected, the four members of the Dark Angels were standing together looking rather smug. The blonde one, Sara was even waving at the fans. They were all wearing dark blue cloaks.

Ling scanned the crowd for a familiar face, she saw the Bladebreakers amongst some other teams and set eyes on Kai who was looking straight at her. She felt her cheeks go hot and looked away, "why am I blushing?" she wondered.

"Ling is so cool!"

"Sara is so pretty!"

"Kylie's an inspiration!"

The Bladebreakers and the others heard many comments about the famous Dark Angels.

"They can't be that good." Michael commented dismissively.

"Yeah," Eddy agreed," They don't look so tough!"

"You can't judge people by their appearance," Oliver said.

Sara saw the Bladebreakers amongst the crowd and waved a greeting, "Hey guys!" She called out with a smile and sauntered towards them. The other Dark Angels also followed. All the guys were staring at Sara which she thought was hilarious.

"Hey gorgeous, will you go out with me?" Enrique asked with an attempt at sounding husky.

Sara giggled," I'll think about it Enrique." She replied, she wasn't as dumb as the stereotypical blonde. He looked dumbfounded but the other guys ignored him and greeted the Dark Angels.

"You've got a lot of fans," Tyson noted, sounding a little envious.

"You could say that," Sara said, "but it isn't such a good thing, you should know, right?"

"People know us but everyone talks about you guys here," Tyson said.

"All competitors please make your way to the arena." An announcer called out through the speakers.

"I guess we have to go then," Sara said and flashed a smile at Tyson as she put her arm through his and lead him to the door. Rei and Mariah walked side by side holding each others hands. The others headed there too along with the other beybladers competing.

What will the opening ceremony be like? Find out next time.


	6. The Opening Ceremony

All the teams gathered in the arena, amongst them were the Bladebreakers, the White Tigers, the All Starz, the Majestics and the Dark Angels.

The announcer turned out to be DJ Jazzman, as expected. He said that during the ceremony the competitors would parade around the Arena so they could be introduced to the spectators. He read out the names out in alphabetical order, which was the order the teams would parade in. The five teams parted as there teams were called out.

"Hey, do they look familiar to you?" Kylie questioned, looking at the team behind them.

The girls turned around to inspect the team behind them.

"I think they're the Demolition Boys, but their captain Tala isn't with them," Bella replied.

"Yeah, wonder what happened to him," Sara commented.

Ling shrugged but didn't comment and looked away from the Demolition Boys. They seemed rather menacing. She thought of the battle she witnessed between Tala and Tyson at the World Tournament. It was the most incredible battle she ever watched, even if it was on TV. The two beybladers were transported into another dimension by the power of their bitbeasts and Tala was defeated despite his 'army' of bitbeasts. It didn't seem to make any sense.

'Could Tyson really be that powerful?' Ling wondered.

Meanwhile Tyson was conversing with none other than Tala, captain of the Demolition Boys. However it seemed that he was no longer a part of that team and had left the Abbey.

"So you've decided to leave the Demolition Boys," Tyson commented.

"Yeah, after battling you last year I realised there was more to battling than winning. I also realised that what the Abbey is doing is wrong, so I quit."

"Good for you, so what's the team you're in now?"

"My new team is the Black Sheep."

"That's an odd name," Max joined in.

A small smile spread across Tala's face, "True, but it's the only thing we could think of, besides the three of us are all black sheep in a way, so it suits."

"Is that so eh? What gives?" Tyson asked.

"Well, it's simple really, the three of us were all part of other teams before, only the others were rejected from their former teams whereas I left mine."

"We had very different styles on beyblading and couldn't think of anything that described us, so Black Sheep it was."

"Speaking of which, where are your companions?" Rei asked

Tala looked around for his team mates. "They said-"

He was interrupted by DJ Jazzman who announced that the teams were in the right order and they had to stay in the preparation area before they were ushered team by team into the Arena.

"Um, you were saying, Tala?" Tyson asked.

"Well, my team mates said they were going to get a drink or something," Tala replied and looked around.

"Tala!!" A girl's voice called from a distance.

"There he is!" A guy's voice was heard next, this time closer. Soon the two young people could be seen approaching the group.

The girl was rather small and skinny. She looked younger than most of the other competitors. Especially with her messy light brown hair tied in two high ponytails. She was wearing an oversized v neck T-shirt over a long sleeved top, shorts, scrunched up socks and sneakers.

The guy was average height (about Tyson's height) and also had his orange hair messy, but it was styled with gel to look cool. He wore a shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and it was tucked into a pair of trousers and wore black leather shoes.

"Hey, where have I seen you before?" The girl asked in a loud voice.

"Alyssa, I'm surprised. As if a beyblader doesn't know of the Bladebreakers!

"Well I was busy beyblading to be stuffed watching TV!" She said as her comeback and stuck her tongue out.

Tala laughed, "These two are always like that. Bladebreakers, I'd like you to meet my team mates Alyssa and Nathan."

"It's an honour to make your acquaintance." Nathan greeted politely.

"Yeah, nice to meet cha!" Alyssa said and smiled cheesily.

Just then one of the staff working at the stadium approached the group. "Black Sheep, you're up next!" the guy said and led them to the entrance of the arena.

Tala turned back and said," Well, guess we'll see each other later!"

Nathan also turned around and nodded a good bye before heading off with the others.

Soon it was the Bladebreakers turn. They were near the entrance to the arena, then they heard an announcement on the speakers "And now, presenting last years World Champions, the Bladebreakers!"

"Guess that's our cue," Kenny said so they all walked out and waved to the spectators who were screaming, applauding and basically making a commotion.

"This is mad!" Max exclaimed.

"Tell me about it," Kenny replied, "They're screaming is so loud!"

"Tyson seems to be enjoying it," Rei commented and the three of them watched as their friend waved frantically at the fans with a huge smile on his face.

Kai was observing the spectators and noticed a number of banners. Amongst them, some had 'Bladebreakers' written on them. Others had 'I love Rei' or 'Tyson rules'. He found these mildly amusing and couldn't help but smirk a little.

After some other teams also paraded until it was the Dark Angels turn. "Now for the team you've all been waiting for, give a big welcome to the Dark Angels!" DJ Jazzman announced.

As soon as the Dark Angels came through the door the fans started screaming. They were by far the most popular of the competitors. The four girls waved at the crowd, Sara even blew a few kisses which got some guys wolf whistling at them. Even Ling, who usually chose to hide her emotions couldn't help smiling at the attention they were all getting.

None of them noticed that there was another figure with the Demolition Boys who were behind them. The figure wore a hood that covered the face and smiled with satisfaction, things were going as planned.

Who is this mysterious figure?


	7. The First Match

Once again Kai met Ling at the Park early in the morning on the day the tournament was going to start. However, they both were training intensely and exchanged few words before they parted.

There were a lot of people at the stadium. Much of the talk amongst the public was about the Dark Angels. This didn't come as a surprise to anyone.

The Bladebreakers headed towards the board that showed which teams were up against whom. Most of the other competitors were there too.

"Hey Mum!" Max called out when he saw Judy with the All Starz.

"Hello Maxie," She greeted and gave her son a hug.

Rei was surprised when Mariah literally pounced on him but he smiled and gave her a small peck on the cheek.

Someone had placed their delicate hands over Tyson's eyes, "Guess who?" A melodic girl's voice commanded.

"Sara?" Tyson guessed.

"Uhuh!" She answered and giggled. Tyson couldn't help blushing.

The other Dark Angels were there too. Ling and Kai exchanged a quick glance.

"Who are we up against?" Johnny from the Majestics asked as he shoved his way through the crowd.

"Sorry, please excuse my companion's behaviour!" Oliver apologized as he followed Johnny. Robert and Enrique were just as ashamed of their team mate's rudeness and waved a quick greeting to the Bladebreakers and their other friends and went off.

As the Bladebreakers were going to get prepared for their first battle they bumped into their new friends Tala, Alyssa and Nathan from the Black Sheep.

"Hey guys!" Alyssa said cheerfully, "Love to stay and chat but we gotta go find out who we're up against!" and the three of them left them.

"So, who are we up against?" Tyson asked the others.

"Tyson! You should've checked the board instead of chatting up girls!" Kenny said, disappointed in Tyson,"but to answer your question we're up against the Outback kids."

"What are they like?" Tyson asked.

"I'll ask Dizzi," Kenny said and opened his laptop.

"Long time no see!" Dizzi said with attitude.

"Sorry Dizzi, I've been preoccupied," Kenny apologized, "Anyway, could you tell us about the Outback Kids?"

"I'll check my files. Ah, here we are. It seems that there's not much known about the Outback Kids as they've been relatively isolated. One advantage we have over them is that they haven't battled against other teams. However, this also means we won't know much about their techniques until we battle them," Dizzi said.

By this time the other Bladebreakers had gathered around to listen.

"Dizzi, do you have anything on the individuals?" Max asked.

"There are three members, one girl and two boys. They don't have a leader as they all consider themselves to be equal."

"Josephine specialises in endurance, she wins her matches by out spinning them."

"Ben is a defence specialist. Avoiding harm and counter attacking his opponents is how he wins."

"Finally, there's Jason who has a strong attack. I don't have any photos of them but you don't need them."

"They seem easy to defeat. All we need to do is find someone who can use their weakness to their advantage." Kai stated.

"That's great!" Rei exclaimed," I'm looking forward to this."

Then there was an announcement," The first match is about to start, please make your way to the arena."

"Let's go watch!" Tyson suggested excitedly and he ran off with Max to the arena.

Being the World Champions and all meant the Bladebreakers didn't need to rush as they had front row seats reserved for them. Nevertheless they all ran there with excitement, though Kai wouldn't admit to it.

The match was the White Tigers against the All Starz.

"Damn, I was hoping we'd get to battle them." Kenny said with disappointment.

"Nah, this makes things interesting," Rei replied.

"Yeah," Max agreed and smiled his hyper smile.

DJ Jazzman appeared with his cork hat, T-shirt and board shorts and announced, "First up, Mariah against Emily!"

"Mariah may be sweet but she's no easy kitty to defeat. Her bitbeast Galux has sharp claws which can rip through her opponent's beyblade."

"Emily with her bitbeast Trygator is also a strong blader. Trygator will bite his opponent's beyblade. This is going to be a great battle!"

"Now lets check out the beydish. This dish is shaped like an ordinary dish but during the battle the dish will be spinning anti-clockwise so depending on which way the blade is going, it'll either be extra slow or extra fast!"

"OK, 3, 2, 1 Let it rip!!"

With that the two girls launched their beyblades and both of them spun rapidly around the beydish.

Trygator wasted no time attacking Galux but Galux's swift movements with the dish were too fast for Trygator to keep up with. Emily commanded Trygator to attack a number of times but each time Galux escaped with hardly a scratch on her.

Soon Mariah got bored and commanded, "Galux, Scratch attack!"

The pink cat appeared from the beyblade and scratched. Before Trygator could react he took the full blow and was lucky to escape without being sliced in half.

"And the winner is Mariah!" DJ Jazzman yelled and the spectators cheered and applauded.

As soon as the beydish stopped spinning Emily went in and picked up Trygator. "You put up a great fight." She whispered. Mariah and Emily shook hand to show there were no hard feelings and smiled.

"Next up is Kevin from the White Tigers against Steve from the All Starz!"

"Kevin is small but with his bitbeast Galmon has his own sneaky ways of winning his battles."

"And Steve and his bitbeast Tryhorn are as tough as they can get."

"The dish for this match is a model of Uluru, Ayers Rock, surrounded by a sandy desert. There are lots of obstacles for the beyblades but they can also use these to their advantage."

"Are you ready?! 3, 2, 1 Let it rip!!"

Kevin and Steve simultaneously released their beyblades. Galmon spun across the sand with increasing velocity but Tryhorn wasn't going to give up without a fight.

At first the two beyblades avoided each other but Steve soon got impatient and commanded, "Tryhorn, Stampede attack!!"

The tough looking orange buffalo appeared and seemed to multiply as it attacked Galmon.

"Galmon, counter with crazy monkey attack!" Kevin shouted.

The yellow monkey emerged from the beyblade and shrieked as he attacked Tryhorn with rage,

"Wow, look at them go!" Max called out.

Both the bitbeasts attacked with all their might despite the sand. Suddenly Tryhorn jumped high and rebounded off the miniature Uluru and slammed hard onto Galmon, stopping his motion.

"Steve takes this round!"

Steve smirked and picked up his beyblade. Kevin was disappointed, obviously but then Gary came up to him and said, "You tried your best."

"Yeah," Lee agreed, "You win some, you lose some. And now, it's my turn."

"Good luck Lee!" Mariah called out as Lee stepped up to the dish.

"And for the last match, Lee against Michael!"

"Lee is the captain of the White Tigers. With his bitbeast Galeon he is a powerful opponent, you don't want to mess with him!"

"Michael is also tough to beat. With Trygle as his bitbeast he is almost undefeatable."

"For this match the dish is a model of Bondi Beach. On one side there is the sea, the other is a sandy beach."

"Now let the battle begin, 3, 2, 1 Let it rip!!"

The beyblades were released and Lee chose to attack immediately. The collision of the beyblades caused sparks to fly.

"Trygle, counter attack!" Michael called out.

However, Galeon's attack was too powerful and caused Trygle to fly into the water and stop spinning.

"Lee wins this match which means the White Tigers advance to the next round!" DJ Jazzman announced. Once again the spectators cheered and the White Tigers were pleased.

"After a short intermission the Bladebreakers will be battling against the Outback Kids."

"We better get going," Tyson stated and they all headed down to the arena.

Further away, a purple haired girl looked down onto the Bladebreakers, especially Kai. "It is almost time."

Who is this purple haired girl and what does she want with Kai?

I hope you liked this chapter with the battles and all. Please review and stay in tuned!


	8. 3, 2, 1, Let It Rip!

The Bladebreakers were at the booth in the arena next to the dish preparing for their battle against the Outback Kids. On the opposite side of the dish were the three teens from the Outback Kids.

The girl wore a checked shirt tied in a knot at the bottom around her waist. She also wore faded jeans and boots and her hair was tied loosely in a braid. One of the guys had a wide brim hat on. He also wore a checked shirt, except his was more yellow colour, over a pair of jeans. The last guy was tall and wore a simple white fitted T-shirt and like the others also wore a pair of jeans.

"It's too bad we don't know who's up first." Kenny noted.

"Damn, forgot about that," Kai thought.

"I'll go first," Max said.

"Alright," everyone agreed.

"Ok, now we have the Outback Kids against last years World Champions the Bladebreakers!"

"First up is Josephine against Max!"

The girl and Max both stepped up.

"Josephine wins her battle by endurance, she just spins her way to victory!"

"Max is a defence specialist. With Draciel as his bit beast he is a tough opponent to defeat!"

"The dish is designed like the bushlands with lots of gum trees on dry land!"

"Ok, lets battle, 3, 2, 1 Let it rip!!"

Max and Josephine launched their beyblades. Both of them were speedily weaving their way amongst the gum trees.

"Dammit, the Outback Kids will feel right at home in the bushland!" Kenny exclaimed, "They have the upper hand!"

They were all worried. "Will Max be able to defeat Josephine?" Kai wondered.

"C'mon Max, you can do it," Tyson silently cheered for his friend.

For a beyblader without the assistance of a bit beast Josephine was fairly skilled. Her beyblade spun around the dish and throughout the trees with great speed.

"Attack!" She ordered.

"Draciel, fortress defence!" Max commanded.

The purple turtle like bit beast came out of the beyblade and called out as it defended himself.

Josephine's beyblade was very strong and despite Draciel's efforts to defend himself he started to wobble and ended up ceasing to spin.

Josephine was declared the winner of the match. Max was extremely disappointed, "Defeated by an amateur!" he whined.

"This is great!" Kai said sarcastically, "Now we'll have to win the next two matches."

"I'll go next." Rei stated, "If there are no objections."

"None here," Tyson said, "I wanna go last."

"Ok then, it's agreed," Kenny said.

Soon DJ Jazzman announced the match between Ben and Rei. The guy with the hat stood up and so did Rei.

"Ben specialises in defence and he defends his way to defeat his opponent."

"Rei and his bit beast Driger make a great team. Together they are almost unstoppable!"

"For this battle the dish is based on the Australian countryside freeway. There's a road that goes around the dish and alongside is dry grass which will make movement hard for the beyblades."

"Are you ready? 3, 2, 1 Let it rip!"

With that Ben and Rei released their beyblades and watched as they spun and circled the road in the beydish.

"Driger, Tiger Claw attack!" Rei commanded. The yellow tiger emerged fro his beyblade and roared as it went in for the attack. Ben's beyblade tried to defend itself but Driger's attack overwhelmed him and pushed it onto the grass and soon it stopped spinning.

"That was a speedy match and victory goes to Rei!"

The spectators cheered, the girls were particularly loud. "Hmph!" Mariah grunted, a bit annoyed.

"The final match will be Jason up against Tyson. Folks, this is going to be one interesting battle as both of them specialise in attack."

"It'll be Jason and his bit beast Dengo against Tyson and his bit beast Dragoon."

"This time the beydish will be like roller coaster tracks. If the beyblade is fast enough it can go through the loop without falling off."

"Lets not waste any more time, let the battle begin, 3, 2, 1 Let it rip!!"

The beyblades were launched and Dengo appeared to be chasing Dragoon.

Jason smirked, "For an attack specialist you seem pretty wussy."

This angered Tyson, "That's it Jason," He shouted, "Dragoon attack!" As soon as the words left his mouth Dragoon turned around and crashed into Dengo knocking him onto another track.

Dragoon headed towards the loop. "Ok, Storm attack!" Tyson commanded. Dragoon went halfway around the loop and used the storm to float down to the bottom of the same track as Dengo and went in for the attack.

"Dengo, counter with growl attack!" Jason ordered. An orange/yellow dingo appeared from he beyblade and growled. It was ear-piercing but wasn't enough to stop Dragoon's storm attack. The storm picked up Dengo and threw him out of the dish.

"What a match! And the winner is Tyson!! The Bladebreakers advance to the next round."

"Alright, go Tyson!" Max cheered and ran to slap his friend's back.

"That was great Tyson!" Kenny exclaimed.

"It was indeed an excellent battle," Rei said.

Kai nodded, "Way the go Tyson," he thought and smiled.

"Hey Tyson!" Sara called out a greeting and ran to hug him, "That was a great match!"

"What's with this girl?" Tyson thought rather shocked "It was alright I guess," he said.

The other members of the Dark Angels approached the Bladebreakers.

Ling said to Kai, "I'm impressed. Apart from Max your team seemed to win effortlessly."

Kai said coolly, "Yeah, I suppose so."

"Rei!" Mariah called out and jumped on him in a hug. He hugged her back and they kissed affectionately.

"That is so sweet," Kylie commented

"Yeah," Sara sighed in agreement. Ling rolled her eyes and Bella laughed at her friends' reactions.

Lee, Kevin and Gary also came a bit later. There was another match that day with two teams they didn't know against each other. The Bladebreakers were tired from their battle while Mariah and the Dark Angels were bored. The White Tigers wanted to stay and watch so then they parted ways.

Just as the Bladebreakers and the others were about to leave the stadium a girl came up to them from seemingly nowhere and started chatting Kai up.

"Hi, I just wanted to congratulate you on your team's battle, it was great to watch," She talked really fast," Oh sorry, how rude of me...my name is Kali."

Normally in this situation Kai would tell her to leave him alone but for a moment he just stared at the girl named Kali.

She was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever laid eyes on. Her deep purple hair reached past her shoulders and had light violet bangs in a side part with one side longer and covering the right side of her face. The left side of her face showed she had large red eyes and pale skin with two purple streaks painted diagonally across her cheek. She wore a short blue sleeveless skivvy that revealed her midriff and black hipsters with a grey sash. She also had white gloves that reached her elbows and knee high brown leather boots.

Kai snapped out of his trance and replied, "I suppose you already know who I am then."

"Yeah, Kai Hiwatari, captain of the Bladebreakers!" She said and smiled, "It's an honour to be able to talk to you."

"Haha, you can say that again," Tyson interrupted, "Normally he wouldn't talk to strangers."

"That's true," Kai thought, "but somehow I feel like I've met her before, but where?"

"Are we gonna go or what!?" Mariah asked impatiently.

"Yeah," Kai said, "Um Kali..."

"Sure, go ahead. We can talk some other time," she said and smiled before waving goodbye and dashing off.

The Dark Angels showed the others the sites of Sydney that were around the Darling Harbour anyway. They generally had a good time. However Kai couldn't stop thinking of Kali, 'why does she seem so familiar?'

Ling looked at Kai who appeared deep in thought, 'You're thinking of that girl aren't you?' she thought. "Kai," she whispered.

In a hotel room somewhere in Sydney Kali, the pretty purpled haired girl looked out the window into the dark of the night. "Kai Hiwatari, why do I feel like we've met before," she thought.


	9. Royalty VS AFL players?

"Help me!" a girl's voice calls out and echoes from a distance.

"Where are you?" Ling asks loudly.

"Please help, I'm trapped,"

"Trapped where?"

"I don't know."

"How can she not know where she's trapped?" Ling wondered, the situation getting weirder and weirder. Ling wandered amongst the darkness and without realising it she walked uphill. Next thing she knew she was approaching the edge of a cliff. The moon is full and there's a silhouette of a girl with long hair.

"Who are you?" Ling asked.

The girl turned around. There are shadows on her face and the wind blows her hair over her face.

"I can't say," the girl says, "They've got me trapped. I can't stay, please help me." The girl started to disappear.

"Wait! Come back!" Ling screams.

Ling suddenly woke up in the middle of the night sweating. Someone knocked lightly on her bedroom door.

"Ling, are you alright?" Ling's mum asked from behind the door.

"I just had a nightmare, I'm sorry to have woken you up," Ling apologized.

Ling's mum opened the door a little and popped her head in, "You sure?"

"Yeah."

"If you say so," her mum said doubtfully and closed the door behind her, leaving a crack.

Despite what Ling said she had trouble convincing herself that it was just a nightmare. She couldn't get back to sleep so she decided to go to the park. She picked up her beyblade and launcher and quietly snuck out of the house.

Ling's mum heard it all, "There she goes again, sneaking out to the park," she thought.

Ling arrived at the park earlier than usual. She practised a few rounds with Oxilibra but then felt sleepy so she decided to rest by a nearby tree. "I'll just rest my eyes," she thought.

Kai expected to hear the sounds of a beyblade spinning when he arrived at the usual spot but it was quiet. "I wonder where she is?" he wondered when he didn't see Ling at the usual beydish. It was then that he noticed someone leaning against a nearby tree. He walked up to the tree and saw Ling. She sat with her right knee up and left leg bent towards the side like half a cross-leg (if that makes any sense). Her mouth was jaw hung loosely making her mouth open and she was breathing deeply.

"She looks so peaceful, how adorable...god what am I thinking!" he thought ashamed of himself, 'The girl is sitting in the most ridiculous position with her mouth wide open.' He didn't intend to wake her up but she stirred.

"Where am I?" She asked sleepily.

"Morning sleepy head," Kai greeted and smirked.

"Oh, it's you."

"Y'know, if I were you I'd be practising for the tournament instead of lazing around."

Ling frowned, "Whatever man..." She got up and went to her dish to beyblade. The two proceeded to practising their beyblading and had considered challenging the other to a battle but decided against training with a possible opponent.

"Welcome everyone to the second day of the Australian Tournament!" DJ Jazzman greeted, "Today promises to be another day of exciting battles where the best of the Australasian countries and last years champions of the world go up against each other."

The crowd cheered with anticipation. Although the other teams that sat amongst the spectators didn't cheer they were just as interested to watch the day's beybattles.

"The first match today will be the Majestics who have come all the way from Europe, against the Ozirulz. This should be interesting as the Majestics members are Europe's finest beybladers and the Ozirulz are all from AFL (Australian Football League) teams around Australia."

"Let's introduce our first contestants. Enrique from the Majestics is the famous Italian Beyblader. With his bitbeast Amphilyon he's on tough opponent."

"Enrique will be up against Dave who is also part of the Brisbane Lions AFL team. His bitbeast Leo has been known to have an extremely powerful roar."

"The dish will be an obstacle dish, which is like the classic bowl with the addition of odd wooden and rock obstacles that have been randomly placed."

"Without further ado let the battle begin! 3, 2, 1 Let it rip!!" DJ Jazzman shouted, "And they're off."

"Go Enrique!" a loud cheer came from the audience, followed by high-pitched screams.

"These young girls should learn to control themselves," Mr. Dickenson commented while blocking his ears.

"You said it Dickenson!" Tyson's Grandpa agreed.

The Bladebreakers however found this hilarious and laughed it off (except for Kai who remained emotionless).

"Guess Enrique's still got his playboyish charms," Kenny said.

"I think the girls here dig European guys," Tyson added.

Max just laughed cheerfully and Rei didn't want to comment because unlike Enrique he was a little embarrassed about getting attention from grovelling female fans.

Amphilyon moved smoothly, circling the various obstacles which Dave's larger beyblade Leo just crashed through the obstacles, cutting clean cuts through the wood and dividing the rocks into small portions.

"And I thought I was a show off!" Enrique thought, but nevertheless he didn't let this ruin his concentration.

The blonde noticed a wide split at the top of one of the wooden obstacles and watched as Leo approached it.

"This might just work," he thought, a plan in his mind, "Amphilyon, rebound off the rock!" he commanded.

Amphilyon followed the command and rebounded off the rock and while spinning sideways flew through the split in the wood and landed an attack on the unsuspecting victim below.

Dave was getting mad, "You'll for that wog boy!" he growled, "Leo, roar now!"

The lion type bit beast emerged from the beyblade and roared so suddenly it almost forced Amphilyon out of the dish. However, Amphilyon wasn't out just yet, he spun along the edge of the dish and Enrique shouted, "Amphilyon, counter!" The glowing yellow two-headed hydra revealed himself and went in to attack the lion bit beast.

Leo defended himself as best as he could but one head against two turned out to be a disadvantage and he was left vulnerable to the hydra. The beyblades collided with each other until Leo started to wobble and eventually stopped.

"What a battle! And Enrique takes this round!" DJ Jazzman declared.

"Yay, Enrique!" the girls cheered and Enrique waved his hands in acknowledgement and started parading around the dish.

"He's so cute!" they shouted followed by ear piercing screams. Once again the guys had to block their ears and needless to say Dave was red with fury, if it was any other cartoon he'd have smoke coming out of his ears and nostrils! He was about to stomp out when Enrique spotted him about to leave from the corner of his eye. He approached the angry guy who was taller than him and put a hand on the guy's shoulder.

"I believe this is yours," Enrique said and handed the AFL player his beyblade. Dave's expression softened and he nodded his head in gratitude.

"Now that's what you call true sportsmanship," Mr Dickenson noted.

Grandpa nodded in agreement.

"Now let's introduce our next contestants. Oliver is a French chef as well as a skilled beyblader. Unicolyon, his bit beast is as strong as it is graceful."

"And from the Ozirulz we have Peter, our local footy hero of the AFL Sydney Swans. With his bit beast Swanzer he's both a great footy player and en excellent beyblader."

"The dish used for this battle is based on the Great Sandy Desert. The sand makes moving difficult while the rocks and sand dunes are obstacles for the beyblades."

"Without further delay, ready, set, go! Let it rip!!"

The two determined beybladers released their beyblades and watched as they spun amongst the sand and rocks. Oliver wasn't used to battling on a surface that was so unstable.

"That beydish looks hard to battle in," Tyson said.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Max exclaimed, "The sand is flying everywhere!"

"This should be interesting," Rei commented.

Kenny and Dizzi were busy collecting data for future use and Kai sat with his arms crossed and watched the battle in silence.

If any of them had looked back they may have noticed the purple haired girl Kali amongst the spectators. Unlike the people around her she looked down on Kai and it suddenly hit her where she had once seen him.

So, what did Kali remember? And how will the battle between Oliver and Peter the AFL player go? Find out next time.


	10. Teamwork DOES work!

--Flashback--

A six year old Kali stood by a beydish in the yard of the Abbey, after defeating the fifth trainee that morning she was bored.

"Serkovsky," she heard a familiar man's voice call out to her. She turned around to see Boris Balkov, the tall man with the sunglasses that the other kids admired as well as feared. She felt nothing towards him, but then again, she didn't feel anything towards anyone.

Standing next to him was a young boy about her age. He had two-toned blue hair and wore blue combat pants, a black sleeveless top and a long white scarf. Usually Kali could tell what others were feeling by looking at their expression. However with this boy she couldn't even tell when staring into his chestnut brown eyes.

"I'd like to introduce you to five year old Kai Hiwatari." Boris said.

The surname sounded vaguely familiar but that wasn't her main thought. She frowned, "Boris, you know I don't battle younger opponents."

Boris just smiled suspiciously and said," Trust me, this is a battle you won't forget."

Kali remained unconvinced but she agreed to the battle anyway. The two children were lead into the Abbey building where there were larger beydishes with a better surface. They took their places by the dish and had their launchers ready to pull.

"3, 2, 1 let it rip!" Boris shouted.

The beyblades were released into the dish. Both of them moved rapidly until Kali went in for the attack. Her beyblade managed to push Kai's to the edge. It seemed like she had the advantage, but Kai remained calm, like he had something up his sleeve.

"Something is not right," Kali realised.

"Ok Dranzer, attack!" Kai ordered.

As soon as the words left his mouth the beyblade started to glow and then a large red bird-like creature appeared from the beyblade.

"What the-" Kali exclaimed in shock and in awe.

Kai smirked with satisfaction, "That, my friend is a bit beast. The spirit of the red phoenix Dranzer is trapped within my beyblade."

Kali watched as her beyblade was being crushed by the bit beast powered beyblade. It was clearly obvious who the victor of the battle would be.

"Ok Dranzer, finish it off!" Kai commanded. The phoenix screeched and went in for the 'kill'. Kali's beyblade was knocked out of the dish.

She bent down to pick it up and just as Kai turned to walk away Kali asked him, "Where did you get your bit beast?"

Kai stopped in his tracks, "You fool, you have to earn the right to control the spirit of the bit beast," he replied, "It's not going to be handed to you on a silver platter!"

--Flashback ends--

Kali never forgot that comment although she had forgotten who had said it. However it had lost all meaning to her. She smiled at the thought and looked at the bit chip she held in her palm, the one that Boris had given to her.

Meanwhile Oliver was still battling Peter from the Ozirulz team. It was hard to see what was happening in the Great Sandy Desert based dish.

"Eat my sand!" Peter shouted and laughed like a maniac with his eyes bulging out.

Oliver was a little sickened by this display. "Ok, Unicolyon, that's enough fooling around. Let's start fighting seriously." Unicolyon headed towards the opposing beyblade with a great force. Sparks flew from the collision and Swanzer was forced to defend himself.

Oliver could see that Peter was gritting his teeth, He sensed an attack coming.

"Swanzer, show yourself and fight!" Peter shouted. A freaky looking indigo swan appeared with his wings spread and let out an angry squawk as he dove for Oliver's blade.

Unicolyon, the graceful white Unicorn emerged. He lifted his front hooves up and the two bit beasts fought viciously.

"Whoa, look at them go!" Tyson exclaimed, "The bit beasts look madder than their owners!"

"Dude, that's some crazy behaviour!" Tyson's Grandpa commented.

The other Bladebreakers and Mr Dickenson were all amazed at what they were witnessing but they weren't the only ones. Everyone else sat in silence and watched in complete awe. Suddenly one boy cheered, "Yeah, fight, fight, fight!" and soon many others joined him in the chanting.

The two bit beast fought each other but they were too evenly matched.

'This could be a problem!' Oliver realised and frowned.

"Oliver, you can do better than that!" Enrique called out to him.

Oliver turned back and looked down on his friend and team mate, "Enrique?"

Robert stood up next to Enrique and stated, "Remember, we formed out own team to work together and support each other."

"You better make it worthwhile!" Johnny added and smirked.

Oliver smiled with a new found confidence, "thanks guys," he thanked them silently and gave them a thumbs up. "If I give up now I'll never defeat Peter and Swanzer," he thought, "Unicolyon, attack and give it all you got!" he commanded.

The beyblade pulled back and then went straight for Swanzer with an increasing acceleration. The resulting force was so powerful that Swanzer was knocked out of the dish,

"Oliver is the victor which means that the Majestics advance to the next round!"

Everyone cheered and the Majestics bowed in appreciation.

Kai rolled his eyes, "Royalty," he thought, "they never change!" but nevertheless he was pleased that they won anyway.

"Hey Chief, their technique seems to be different from when we battled them," Rei commented.

"That's true," Kenny answered, "They've improved a lot since then. Not only are they planning their strategies more carefully but they're working together as a team instead of individually."

"I wonder if we'll battle them," Max wondered.

"It would be hard to defeat them," Tyson said.

They were interrupted by DJ Jazzman's announcement, "Don't go away, we'll be back shortly with more exciting battles! In the meantime snacks are available from the Cafeteria!"

"Hello Max," Judy greeted, Emily was with her.

"Hey mum," Max replied, "What are you two doing here?"

Emily answered, "We figured since we're already out for the count we thought we'd assist you guys. Afterall, if it wasn't for you we'd never have realised that spirit mattered in a beybattle."

Emily sat in an empty seat next to Kenny, "Did you and Dizzi get any stats off the last battle?" she asked.

"Yeah we did, right Dizzi?" Kenny said.

"You said it Chief!" Dizzi replied and the three of them discussed technical details about the physics of the beyblade motion.

Across the other side of the stadium during the intermission a group of girls sat amongst the many enthusiastic spectators. They noted every move and strategy used by the competitors. They were known as the Dark Angels. The four girls had become accustomed to being recognised in public. However on this particular occasion they did not want to be recognised so they cleverly disguised themselves with conventional outfits, make-up and wigs.

"That girl we met yesterday. She seemed to be all over Kai," Kylie noted.

"You mean Kali right? She was quite pretty though," Sara admitted, hinting a little of jealousy.

"True," Bella said, "but she also looked a bit scary too. There's something not quite right about her."

Ling was deep in thought, "You're all right, so I think we should keep an eye on her, in case she's up to no good," she suggested.

Just then DJ Jazzman made another announcement, "Ok, it's time for the second match of the day. This time it'll be the Demolition Boys from Russia against the Creepy Crawlies."

The crowd cheered enthusiastically.

"I didn't know the Demolition Boys were battling!" Tyson exclaimed, sincerely surprised.

Mr Dickenson frowned, "this can't be good news," he thought.

"The first battle will be Ian from the Demolition Boys against Adam from the Creepy Crawlies!"

"Ian and his bit beast Wyborg are small but they pack a hell of a punch in battle."

"Adam doesn't have a bit beast but his incredibly strong beyblade makes up for that."

"The dish used is based on the Riverlands in South Australia. The miniature Murray River flows through the centre and along the banks are reeds and mangrove trees with undergrowth."

"Ok, 3, 2, 1 let it rip!!"

The beybladers simultaneously pulled their ripcords and their beyblades hit each other before they landed. However none of them were knocked out of the dish and they moved speedily around the dish.


	11. Bugger!

The battle between Ian and Adam from the Creepy Crawlies was fierce. Both players had a bad temper and were willing to win no matter what the cost. Ian thought he had the advantage having a bitbeast and all but despite this Adam put up a good fight. Wyborg kept attacking the other beyblade but being so strong and well-built it almost had not effect whatsoever.

Ian was mad, he gritted his teeth trying to think of a plan to get this guy. However, his mind was clouded with angry thoughts while Adam didn't even break a sweat. Wyborg wore himself out with all the continuous attacking but Ian was too angry to realise it. Adam snickered.

Ian shouted, "Why are you smiling?! I'm going to wipe that grin off your ugly face!"

However without warning Adam's beyblade crashed into Wyborg. This caused a hideous grinding sound when they made contact. Both of them battled intensely but because Wyborg was already worn out from all the previous attacking he began to wobble. Adam used this to his advantage and ordered his beyblade to shove Wyborg into the river. Wyborg was left helplessly drifting with the current until the beyblade stopped at the edge of the beydish.

Adam laughed evilly (much like Weevil, that annoying guy with the bugs in Yu-Gi-Oh). Ian didn't want to face his team mates but slowly made his way to the booth.

"Ian, you let us down, "Spencer said.

Bryan shook his head, "How disappointing, now it's my turn." After saying so the cold, pale boy stood up and headed towards the dish.

"That was quick wasn't it," Max said.

"Mm hmm," Tyson nodded in agreement.

"Let's hope they lose the next battle too," Kenny said hopefully.

Soon after Adam from the Creepy Crawlies was declared the winner another announcement was made to introduce the next contestants.

"The second battle will be Bryan from the Demolition Boys against Carey from the Creepy Crawlies."

"Bryan and his bitbeast Falborg are both as cool and mysterious as they come."

"His opponent Carey and his bitbeast Beidectus won't be easy to defeat."

"Let's check out the dish. For this battle we have the tower dish. A dish with a smooth surface but a tower with a smaller beydish erected from the centre. The challenge is to remain within the smaller dish for ten seconds. Whoever manages to do this wins the battle!"

"3, 2, 1 Let it rip!!"

With that the beyblades were off, both of them rotating sideways along the tower obviously trying to get the top of the tower.

This particular beydish brought back memories, from what felt like a long time ago, for Max. The blonde boy turned to see Kai with a strange distant look in hie chestnut eyes. He could tell that Kai was also reminded of their first battle against each other.

It was during the Regional Qualifying tournament back in Japan at the Seadome. Battling Kai was indeed challenging. Even when Max discovered Draciel's bit chip in his grandmother's pendant he had not known how to unleash the potential power of the bitbeast. This cost him the match but despite this he was still honoured to have battled someone with Kai's skill. It was indeed a memorable experience.

Max felt a hand on his shoulder which took him by surprise.

"Hey Max, what's on your mind?" Rei asked, "You seem a little...distracted."

"Oh it's nothing," Max replied with a small smile, getting back to the present, "Let's just watch the battle."

There was a long pause as Rei eyed Max suspiciously, "If you say so."

As the battle was heating up The Dark Angels watched observed everything that was happening within the beydish.

"The Demolition Boys...they're the guys that were standing behind us at the Opening Ceremony aren't they," Bella stated uncertainly.

"I think so..." Sara answered, "His name is Bryan right?" she asked.

Ling looked closely at the expression of the pale, violet haired boy, "He appears so cold..." she thought shivering at the thought.

"Hello?!" Sara called out, interrupting Ling's thoughts and waving her hand in front of her face.

Ling sighed, "Yeah, it's Bryan all right."

Kylie added, "Is it just me or does Bryan give off a somewhat cold vibe?"

"Yeah, it seems so," Bella commented, "But in the strangest way it feels almost familiar."

Ling whispered in thought, "Interesting."

The two beyblades, with the power of their respective bitbeasts Falborg and Beidectus, battled it out to make their way to the mini dish on the top of the tower. Getting there was easy enough, it was actually staying in the dish for the specified ten seconds that proved difficult. There was lots of struggling and shoving of beyblades. Bryan wasn't reluctant to use his power to call out orders to Falborg. However, Carey from the Creepy Crawlies was not pushover.

Carey commanded, "Beidectus, show yourself and lets put an end to this battle!" As soon as his command was heard the beyblade glowed with a bright red light and a spider-like bitbeast appeared from the bit chip.

"Bryan, meet Beidectus, the red back spider, his poison will stop you from defeating me!" Carey boasted.

Bryan frowned, "We'll see about that Carey." Then he shouted, "Falborg, attack the spider!"

Soon, the impressive falcon emerged from the beyblade and shrieked out in anger. The two bitbeasts rushed for the mini dish and hideous grinding sounds could be heard as the two battled it out within the mini dish.

"Ok Beidectus, it's time for the poison web!" Carey called out.

"What the-" Bryan was left speechless as he watched his bitbeast Falborg being consumed by what appeared to be a glowing red net. Falborg struggled to break loose but the more he struggled the weaker he seemed to become.

"Hahaha!!" Carey laughed hysterically, "The Poison web not only holds your bitbeast in but it also drains it of energy, hence the poison!"

Bryan was extremely mad, he gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, 'I refuse to lose to a mere arachnid!' he thought angrily. The pale boy's eyes suddenly opened wide and burned with rage as he screamed, "Falborg!!" The bitbeast had the same fiery look in his eyes as his master.

All of a sudden the Falcon broke out of the web and looked down on the now defenceless spider.

"Remember Carey, it is the bird that eats the spider..." Bryan spoke, more in control of himself. With that Falborg flew in for the attack, a powerful blow that caused the spider to retreat and the beyblade to be knocked out of the dish.

It was clear who the winner of this battle would be, but nevertheless they had to do the countdown for staying in the mini dish at the top of the tower.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...and Bryan takes this round for the Demolition Boys!" DJ Jazzman called out. The spectators cheered, at least most of them did anyway.

"I thought Carey was going to win for sure when Beidectus had caught him in the web," Tyson said, disappointedly.

"Unfortunately, Falborg has gained a lot of power since we last encountered him," Kenny noted.

"You've got that right Chief, "Dizzi butted in, "His power levels were at the top of the scales!"

"This does not look good," Max commented.

"There is still a chance that the Demolition Boys will be defeated. After all, the third battle decides which team is victorious," Rei said.

Kai was in thought, as usual, 'I wonder who they'll put next. Spencer is the only other member left, so why do I have a feeling that the next contestant isn't him?'


	12. Memories

DJ Jazzman soon made an announcement, "Now it's time to introduce our next contestants!" he said, "The Demolition Boys have a new member but first let's introduce the Creepy Crawlies captain Brendan. This guy's no pushover and with his bitbeast Bullantis he'll be especially hard to defeat!"

Brendan was a tall and lank guy with tanned skin and dressed in a single white singlet and dirty jeans.

"He looks overconfident, I'll show him," she thought.

"...and now lets introduce the new captain of the Demolition Boys..." DJ Jazzman spoke.

"Guess that's my cue," she thought and smirked as she stood into the light.

"Kali!" He announced.

There were many cheers from the crowd and many comments could be heard.

"She's so beautiful...." the girls said and the guys hooted loudly.

She smirked, "There's more to me than just a pretty face." She then stared into her opponent's eyes, her look was intimidating and she sensed fearful vibes from the taller guy.

The Dark Angels were surprised.

Kylie said, "When we met her that time and she said she knew Kai I sort of thought she was, like, just a huge fan of his or something."

"Maybe she is and she wants to battle him so she joined the Demolition Boys," Sara commented.

"That's a strange thought," Bella commented.

Sara was taken aback a little, "Um...well, that was my attitude somewhat when I watched Tyson defeat the former captain last year at the World Championships, y'know..."

At that moment DJ Jazzman started the countdown, "3, 2, 1, Let it rip!!" he called out.

The blades were released and already Kali's silver blade appeared to have the advantage in speed and manoeuvrability.

"Wow, she's good," Sara exclaimed.

"True," Ling noted, "But her technique is rather unusual."

"What do you mean?" the others asked, puzzled by this comment.

"Well, I can't say for sure what her trick is but notice how she's watching Brendan, instead of the beyblades..."

Meanwhile, the Bladebreakers were watching in shock and awe at Kali and her strange beyblading skills.

"Oh my god, she's with the Demolition Boys!" Tyson cried, "That is so uncool..."

Emily, who had decided to help the Bladebreakers earlier, looked puzzled at the expressions of the Bladebreakers.

"Kenny, can you check on her power levels?" she asked.

"This doesn't seem to make sense..." Kenny replied as he did the necessary calculations with Dizzi.

"It appears that she is somehow hiding her potential power, these figures show that they are quite low but as you can see, that is not the case," Dizzi noted.

Kai was lost in his thoughts, "There is only one person I know who watches their opponents like that in a battle...those bright red eyes...Kai Serkovsky."

--Flashback--

A young Kai was intensely training with the Abbey's top facilities in the gym. He was powerful, and he knew it, especially with his bitbeast Dranzer.

Suddenly he heard footsteps in the gym. He turned around and stood face to face with a girl with two toned purple hair and red eyes. This was the girl he had beaten when he first came to the Abbey.

"What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy," he said and with that he launched his beyblade into the beydish once again. He expected her to leave him alone, like most of the other children did. However, she stayed put and waited for him to retrieve his blade before taking out her own blade and launcher and said," I challenge you to a rematch, Kai."

"And why should I accept?" Kai asked challengingly, "You're just a mere girl who can hardly beyblade." Once again he launched his beyblade into the dish but this time another beyblade flew in and, catching Dranzer off guard, knocked him out.

"I refuse to leave until I battle you," she stated. Her voice was calm but firm and her message was clear.

Kai looked into the girl's eyes and they were as red as ever but now they were also somewhat fiery. Kai could tell this girl was serious, which meant that if he was to be rid of her presence he'd have to battle her. In his opinion, the girl, who he remembered Boris refer to as 'Serkovsky' was determined, he gave her credit for that. In fact he was almost impressed by her determination, almost being the keyword. "Defeating her should be a piece of cake," he thought.

Rolling his eyes he finally agreed to what he thought would be another pointless battle. The girl proved him wrong as the two beyblades fought with almost the same power level. "How can this be?' he wondered, 'How can someone without a bitbeast be so powerful?!" While he was distracted the girl had knocked his beyblade out of the dish.

In response to the unanswered question the girl replied, "This is what they call skill."

Kai stared at her, he was completely speechless and he realised that he still didn't know her name. Once again it seemed like she read his mind with another comment.

"You'll be sorry you ever battled Kali Serkovsky!" she hissed and ran off.

--Flashback ends--

Kai snapped out of his trance and watched the battle between Kali and Brendan who were both battling hard.

Brendan's brown bitbeast, the bull ant-like creature had already emerged form the bit chip and was continuously spitting poison at Kali's beyblade. However, it seemed like Bullantis wasn't aiming properly as the silver blade skilfully avoided every shot.

"Skill," Kai thought, "that's all you need to win a battle."

Brendan was becoming red with fury while Kali watched him intensely with her red eyes and kept her cool. She smiled a little, which was all it took to scare Brendan out of his skin. Brendan commanded Bullantis to attack but Kali was unaffected.

"Ok, you know what to do," She quietly whispered to her beyblade in the beydish.

In response the blade let out a dark aura. One bump to the opposing brown beyblade was all it took to stop it in its tracks. Brendan didn't stand a chance. She knew it from the beginning and now he knew it too.

"Kali takes this battle!" DJ Jazzman announced excitedly. The crowd cheered as he continued, "Which means the Demolition Boys advance to the next round!"

All but the Bladebreakers and the Dark Angels were pleased with this result.

A loud rumbling could be heard where the Bladebreakers sat. Tyson blushed a little as he announced his hunger, "I was so eager to get here today that I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast!"

"Y'know, we could go get something to eat. I'm feeling a little hungry myself," Max said.

They all decided to go except for Kenny who wanted to stay and watch the next battle with Emily, "That way we can prepare ourselves to battle the winning team," he said.

The rest of them decided that was a good idea and stood up to go out when they realised they were missing their blue-haired captain.

"Er, guys...where's Kai?" Rei asked.

No one had noticed him sneak out as soon as Kali won her battle against the Creepy Crawlies captain. He had a strange feeling of familiarity ever since he met her the previous day. Kali Serkovsky...his former acquaintance from the Abbey...memories of his forgotten childhood flooded his mind and he knew he needed to talk to her. He was running so fast he had almost no idea where he was going. The guy was tired; he was puffing as he slowed down to look around. There weren't many people where he was. In fact, there was no one in sight.

It was then when a female voice came from the shadows, "Kai, what a pleasant surprise to see you here so soon."

"Who are you?!" Kai demanded, he was annoyed and pissed off, "Are you such a coward that you won't even show your face?!"

He could sense the hesitation of the other person but she stepped out into the light to reveal that it was none other that Kali Serkovsky.

"Actually," she said, "I had the feeling you'd be here."

Kai was speechless. He knew he wanted to speak to her again but now that she was standing there in front of him he didn't know what to say. It was as if all the questions he had for her were lost.

The other Bladebreakers were happily chatting and eating. Amongst them was Tyson who although was acting as cheerfully and ate as plentifully as usual he couldn't help but stop and wonder where Kai had went off to, and why.


	13. Too Sweet

That night Kai got back to the hotel way past midnight. Kali and he had acknowledged that they both met at the Abbey in their childhood. Although Kai had so much he wanted to say they only exchanged a few words before she ran off into the shadows. He tried to follow her but she seemed to run through a maze of alley ways and passages.

The blue haired guy had given up and spent the remainder of the night wondering around absorbing the night scene of Sydney's Darling Harbour. Surrounding him were many wonders but all he could see was a blur of neon lights and clubbers as he was distracted by his thoughts.

He had finally snapped out of it when two headlights of a fancy sports car almost crashed into him. He had apologized to the driver who responded with foul language. Disgusted, he had decided to get back to the hotel, after all, he still needed some shut eye before training in the morning.

Tyson heard the swipe of the key card and the door slowly open. He looked up at the clock and noted how late Kai was. He knew it was Kai, after all, who else could it be? The way Kai noisily stumbled around the bedroom he was surprised none of the others had woken up. As Kai slumped onto his bed Tyson asked suddenly, "Kai, where were you?"

"Wa-Tyson, you still awake?"

"Yeah, now answer my question."

Kai was hesitant but sighed and eventually told him about his encounter with Kali and how he wondered around the streets and almost got hit by a car.

"Kai, how could you be so careless?" Tyson asked, "You could've been hurt. That's so not like you...what's with you and Kali anyway?"

Kai ignored the question and said, "I think we both need some sleep." With that he turned the bedside lamp off and went to sleep.

Not long after he woke up and got prepared to go out practising. He needed to do something to distract himself from thoughts of the purple haired girl. Beyblading was always good for that. He grabbed his beyblade and his launcher and quietly left the premises.

Once again the captain of the Dark Angels Ling had beaten him to the park. She had just finished a round of beyblading when Kai arrived, she caught the beyblade as it flew out of the dish and greeted Kai politely. "Kai," she said as a gesture.

He nodded in response but said nothing as he positioned himself beside a neighbouring beydish.  
"Ok here goes," he thought and took a deep breath before releasing his beyblade. The blade was in control and moved around the dish with ease but soon he lost concentration and the blade wobbled and stopped in the middle of the dish. He was pissed at himself for blading so unskilfully, like a mere rookie.

Ling couldn't help but notice Kai's troubled expression as he jumped into the dish to retrieve his beyblade. The beyblade let out a few pulses of red light and the guy mumbled something before putting his hand on his forehead and collapsing.

"Kai!!" Ling shouted and immediately ran to his side, "What's wrong?!"

The blue-haired boy was conscious but was totally distressed. His hair was matted with nervous sweat and his teeth were gritted together. "What can't I get her out of my head!" he muttered.

Ling hardly heard it but she did, "Oh dear," she said quietly and thought to herself, "he's still thinking of Kali..." He didn't say anything but she got the impression that the two of them knew each other from before. The dark-haired girl was curious about their past but at that moment she was more concerned for the Bladebreakers captain. The guy looked depressed. She didn't know why she felt so bad for him, but she did and she wanted to comfort him somehow. However, the girl was lost for words so she put her arms around him, let him lean against her and hugged him.

They stayed like that for a while and Kai was feeling many mixed emotions. He was still annoyed at his bad beyblading, he was still obsessing over Kali and his childhood yet he felt warm and secure in the arms of the Chinese girl.

He eventually stopped thinking of Kali and his horrific beyblading and concentrated on the comfort he felt from the simple hug. He thought of Ling and her face, in its own way, it was attractive. Now that he thought about it he had never seen the girl smile before. He snuck a peek at her face and she was looking down on him with a caring look in her purple eyes and a small smile on her lips.

"Thank you," he said in appreciation.

"No problem," she replied and finally let go of him, "I don't think you're in the right mood for beyblading this early in the morning, you look exhausted. I suggest you get some sleep."

"Right," Kai said, back to his usual emotionless self. "Bye," and with that he ran off.

"Sometimes I don't know what to think of that guy," Ling thought and she turned and headed for her own home.

The next day the Black sheep were to have their first battle in the tournament. Alyssa rushed to the board to find out who they were up against and stood speechless when she saw the team she most dreaded battling. She hated the thought of having to battle the Sweet Girls. After all, they were her former team mates who rejected her.

--Flashback--

Alyssa's worst memory occurred just a year ago. She was once with the Sweet Girls. They were the lovely local beyblade team who won everyone over with their charming nature and pretty faces. Alyssa was always a bit different from the others. She was more tomboyish and despite being one of the best players on the team, she lacked a bitbeast.

The other three, Cherry, Candy and Honey were all into fashion and had beautiful and graceful bitbeasts. The four members of the Sweet Girls team were satisfied. However, this changed as soon as a new girl came to town. Her name was Peach and she was also a skilled beyblader with her own pretty bitbeast. As soon as Cherry noticed her she immediately allowed her into the Sweet Girls team and kicked Alyssa out because she had no bitbeast.

"But why Cherry, I've been such a loyal member, I've helped gained victories many times!"

Cherry, the captain looked down on the pitiful little Alyssa and sneered, "You are not worthy to be on this team. You have no style and not bitbeast, you just don't fit anymore!"

--Flashback ends--

"What's wrong Alyssa?" Nathan asked, he appeared concerned.

"Um, it's the Sweet Girls," she stated.

"Eh?"

"I used to be on their team..."

"Oh...I see, don't worry, you can use it as an opportunity to prove you're better than them!" he said cheerfully, he then patted her shoulder when he noticed her shocked expression and smiled in a comforting way,

"Thanks Nath'."

"Come on guys, The Sweet Girls aren't going to wait around for us to show up!" Tala demanded.

"Coming!" Alyssa back and the two Black Sheep followed their mysterious leader.

The three members had been a team for half a year but Nathan and Alyssa still didn't know much about Tala Ivanov apart from the fact that he was an excellent beyblader. However, it was not the time to think of such insignificant details. They had a battle to win.

"Welcome to another day of exciting beybattles!" DJ Jazzman greeted the spectators once everyone was seated, "You're in for a real treat today as the Dark Angels will be blading later but before that we shall witness an incredible match between the newly formed Black Sheep and the darling Sweet Girls."

There was a loud cheer from the spectators. But at the arena a certain captain sneered.

"Ooh...look who we have here!" a tall girl with shoulder length maroon coloured hair commented. A shorter girl with pale pink hair laughed in a sickeningly sweet way.

"It's the little Alyssa!" she giggled.

"Damn Candy..." Alyssa muttered.

"Who are they?" Tala asked curiously.

"They are former team mates, Cherry and Candy," she replied.

"Hrm...very interesting," Tala said.

Cherry called out, "So you think you can beat us now Alyssa? You and your two mates!" she mocked. The four girls laughed.

"Pathetic," Honey, a girl with long dark blonde hair commented.

"So true," another girl named Peach said. Her hair was short and layered to be longer at the front than the back.

Alyssa resented Peach more than anyone because she was her 'replacement' on the Sweet Girls team.

DJ Jazzman interrupted their thoughts with another announcement, "Ok, first up we have Nathan from the Black Sheep battling Candy from the Sweet Girls.

Nathan may be a newbie but he's already claimed his own bitbeast Jakala who will defend the blade to the end, and sweet Candy also has a powerful bitbeast at her side, Lyre.

The dish used for this battle will be a standard dish with an extra slippery surface making it difficult to literally get a grip. Now without further ado, let the battle begin, 3, 2, 1 let it rip!!"

The two bladers launched their beyblades simultaneously and watched intensely as they collided and smashed furiously at each other. They were both equally determined to win but like any match, there could only be on winner.

"Wow, this battle is amazing!" Kenny exclaimed excitedly, "Nathan's an excellent beyblader, no wonder Tala let him into his team."

"You said it chief," Dizzi agreed, "That boy is one heck of a blader!"

"Look at 'em go!" Max commented while the others, i.e., Tyson, Rei and Kai watched in silence.

The Dark Angels were also impressed by this display.

"I wonder how Candy got her hair so nice," Sara wondered in vain.

"Sara! I'm surprised at you. We're meant to be watching a beybattle, not comparing hairstyles!" Ling voiced loudly, "That just defeats the purpose of being here."

"Both of them are quite impressive," Kylie said.

"How very true," Bella agreed.

Meanwhile Nathan and Candy were still going at each other. Candy was getting restless and finally called upon Lyre to show herself. A pretty pink lyrebird type bitbeast emerged from the pink blade and sparkles seemed to come from the tail. One of the sparkles landed on the opposing beyblade causing it to wobble.

"Careful Jakala, a don't let anymore of those sparkles touch you," Nathan instructed. At that Jakala, a blue jackal type bitbeast appeared and growled at the graceful lyrebird. Once again the two beyblades went head to head, both determined to defeat the opponent.

"Nathan, you better win this for the team's sake and for mine," Alyssa prayed. Tala also silently cheered for Nathan and hoped he could pull it off.


	14. The Sheepish Way

Nathan and Candy were battling with all their might. Their respective bitbeasts Jakala and Lyre mimicked their owner determination.

"Annihilate her!" Nathan commanded, however the pink lyrebird was very powerful and had a strong defence despite Jakala's efforts. Eventually the blue jackal was worn out and was panting hard before it retreated back within the beyblade and stopped. Nathan stared at his motionless beyblade in shock while Candy cheered and smiled a sickeningly sweet smile.

"I won!" she screamed as DJ Jazzman officially declared her victory

Alyssa and Tala were both disappointed. Alyssa placed her hand on Nathan's shoulder and comforted him once he had retrieved his beyblade.

"You tried your best," Alyssa said, "that's all you could've done."

Tala however was not as forgiving in nature, "Nathan, I am disappointed in you," he stated, no emotion showed on his face.

Nathan felt such shame, Alyssa felt sorry for her fellow team mate.

"Tala, you can be really mean sometimes," she said.

"He's right thought," Nathan said, his head held low and he walked away.

"Nathan..." Alyssa whispered.

DJ Jazzman called out, "Ok, for the second round we have little Alyssa from the Black Sheep up against the newest member to the Sweet Girls team, Peach.

The beydish is a unique one. It consists of four smaller dishes and each one possesses its own elemental properties, water, fire, metal and wood. So, who will win this battle? There's only one way to find out, 3, 2, 1 let it rip!!"

The two girls launched their beyblades. Alyssa glared at her opponent. "This is the girl that got me kicked out of my own team, I've gotta defeat her," Alyssa thought, "If only I had a bitbeast..."

"Alyssa!" Nathan called out, "You can show her what a great beyblader you are, without a bitbeast."

It was almost as if he read her mind, Alyssa turned around and caught Tala nodding in agreement to Nathan's opinion.

"Thank you," she mouthed to her team mates.

"I'll show you what makes a strong beyblader Peach!" she shouted.

Peach frowned, obviously annoyed by this young redhead.

"Don't let her intimidate you!" Cherry, the confident captain called out.

"You go gal!" Candy and Honey cheered.

Alyssa's orange beyblade spun in the slippery water element mini-dish while Peach's pastel peach coloured blade spun in the opposite hot fire dish. Both of them then jumped into the smooth metal dish and went for the attack. The scraping caused sparks to fly from the edge of the blades.

"Look at 'em go folks!" DJ Jazzman shouted. Cheers came amongst all the spectators.

The two beyblades continued to attack each other furiously.

"This is getting ridiculous," Peach stated, "Let's get this over with!" as soon as she finished her pastel blade started glowing from the centre. It became a bright yellow and son a mystical pheasant came out and screeched. "Feesa!" Peach commanded, "Show this puny wimp what a bitbeast is capable of!" The pheasant swooped down on the seemingly defenceless orange beyblade.

"No!!!" Alyssa cried, "I can't lose, I just can't!"

Suddenly the whole stadium was flooded with a blinding white light, slowly it made its way to Alyssa's beyblade.

"What the - " Alyssa gasped in awe. Everyone was silent with shock until the light was contained within the bitchip of the beyblade. Somehow Alyssa knew she had just obtained a bitbeast spirit and excitedly called for it to show itself. It was a beautiful white fox with nine bushy tails, "Oh my god, you're gorgeous Foxai," Alyssa said.

Foxai called out in response and defended off the opposing pheasant causing it to retreat and the blade to fall out of the beydish.

"And the winner is, Alyssa!" DJ Jazzman announced.

Alyssa was so happy that she jumped up on the sire while the other Black Sheep, Tala and Nathan came to congratulate her.

"Hit two birds with one stone eh Alyssa?" Nathan commented with an intelligent smile on his charming face,

Alyssa had no idea what he was on about so Tala explained, "I think he meant that you won the battle as well as got yourself a lovely bitbeast spirit."

"Yup!" Alyssa agreed, it finally sunk in.

"However, it ain't over yet," Tala said, "It's now my turn to battle."

Across the dish stood the tall and sassy maroon haired girl, Cherry. A sly smile spread across her face and Tala sensed she had something up her sleeves.

"The deciding battle to determine the winning team will be the two captains Tala from the Black Sheep and Cherry from representing the Sweet Girls," DJ Jazzman called out. The crowd cheered and applauded excitedly. "This time we have a forest themed dish with a moss and dirt surface and trees randomly placed around the dish. Without further delay let the battle begin, 3, 2, 1 let it rip!"

The two redheads released their beyblades and initially spun around aimlessly trying to get used to the uneven surface. Tala cleverly manoeuvred Wolberg amongst the trees in the dense forest while Cherry still struggled. Seeing this Tala decided it was appropriate to attack the beyblade while the other player was uncertain however when he attacked he was forced back by the powerful defence of Cherry's beyblade. The girl snickered.

"If you think you'll get me so easily Tala, then you're sadly mistaken." the girl boasted.

Tala was annoyed but kept his focus on finding an offence against Cherry's bitbeast. He knew what he had to do, "Wolberg, show this girl your power!" he called out. His beyblade glowed an icy blue colour before the icy blue wolf came out howling loudly.

For a split second Cherry appeared fearful but soon got over it and commanded her own bitbeast to come out, "Flaim!" Not long after the blade glowed a deep red and a red flamingo-like bitbeast appeared.

The fiery flamingo-like bitbeast cried out and stretched itself in preparation to attack the icy wolf. The two bitbeasts headed for each other. It was difficult to tell who had the advantage as the two were exact opposites of each other.

"Firewall!!" Cherry screamed. A barrier of fire appeared around the red flamingo but Tala had his own comeback.

"Ice blast!" he commanded. Wolberg opened its mouth and let out an icy breath so cold it extinguished the fire barrier and blasted Flaim. The flamingo screamed in pain and Cherry was lost for words as her beyblade was blasted out of the dish. It was clear who the winner of the match was.

"Tala takes this battle!" DJ Jazzman shouted, "Which means the Black Sheep advance to the next round!!"

A loud applause came from the crowd and the three members of the Black Sheep beamed with pride and they got together in a group hug despite Tala's reluctance.

Alyssa felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to stand face to face with Cherry, the captain of the Sweet Girls.

"Alyssa, you've improved immensely since we last battled as a team, and your bitbeast Foxai is gorgeous. Would you consider joining us again?" she asked.

Alyssa looked from her team mates Nathan and Tala to her former leader and smiled.

"I'll have to decline your offer, Cherry. These guys and I are now a team and I'm happy battling with them," Alyssa replied.

"Come on, lets find a seat to watch the next match," Nathan suggested.

"K," Alyssa said and with a small wave she left with the other Black Sheep leaving the captain of the Sweet Girls speechless.

"I want to congratulate Tala and the rest of the Black Sheep," Tyson said.

"Yeah, let's go," Max cheered.

"But guys, don't you want to watch the next match?" Kenny asked.

"'Course, we'll make it back in time!" Tyson reassured.

"Um...I almost forgot guys, I have to meet somebody now," Rei told them, "I'll be back to see the last match." The tall dark-haired boy then stood up and sauntered off.

The two younger boys Tyson and Max ran off to find the Black Sheep. Kai, Kenny and Emily were left to watch the second match.

"Tala!!" Tyson and Max called out as soon as they caught sight of the redhead in the distance. Tala turned around and waved.

"We won!" Alyssa announced excitedly.

"We know, we saw it all," Max called in reply.

"You guys were great, especially you Alyssa!" Tyson agreed.

They all conversed happily until they decided to part to find seats to watch the next match.

Meanwhile Rei waited outside the Sydney Stadium staring at the clock impatiently.

"Rei!" a familiar female voice called out.

"Hey Mariah!" Rei greeted.

"So, what was it that you wanted to show me, eh?" she asked.

"Come, I'd ruin the surprise if I told you now," Rei commented, he then grabbed the girl's hand and lead her off.


	15. The Real Slim Shady

"Rei!" Mariah exclaimed as he dragged her through the crowd, "Where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there," he replied, "by the way, are you hungry?"

"Um...I 'spose I am a bit peckish..." she said.

"Good," he said and they finally stopped in front of a restaurant called White Tiger with Chinese characters with the same meaning. The pink-haired girl looked from the restaurant to Rei's smiling face wondering what was going on.

"I'd like you to meet someone..." Rei said as they entered the little Chinese restaurant.

"Is that you Rei?" a man's voice spoke. Soon an Asian man came out. He had short black hair and a friendly face, "How are you? Ooh...and who's your girlfriend?" he asked.

"Uncle Jin, yes it's Rei and this is Mariah, a friend from the village," Rei introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mariah, Rei never told me he had such a pretty girlfriend!" Jin said.

The two youths blushed, they had never admitted to being more than friends, even to each other.

Jin noticed this and laughed heartily, "Come on in, lunch is on me!"

Rei and Mariah smiled and chose a table by the window and looked through the menus for something to eat.

Meanwhile, back at the stadium the second match was about to begin. Kenny and Emily waited in anticipation, getting their equipment set up to record all the statistics. Kai was bored and soon Tyson and Max came back to claim their seats.

"I wonder how the next teams will be, should be exciting," Tyson commented.

"Australians have been very impressive beybladers so far," Max agreed.

"Mm..." Kai mumbled his agreement and Kenny nodded as well.

"For the second match we have the Shade Brothers blading against the Beykids, the youngest team entering the tournament!" DJ Jazzman called out. The excited spectators cheered loudly.

"First up we have Ricky from the Shade Brothers against Melanie from the Beykids. The beydish used will be a rocky desert. With all these obstacles beyblading will be difficult. Now, let's battle, 3, 2, 1 let it rip!!"

The youths launched their beyblades onto the rocky terrain. It was difficult to tell what Ricky was feeling with his sunshades on but Melanie had a determined look on her young face.

Nathan watched with interest at the battle in the arena. He wasn't sure who to cheer for.

"Hey Nath', who're you rootin' for?" Alyssa asked.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. See those guys with the sunglasses""

"Um..." Alyssa looked around and caught sight of the Shade Brothers, "Yes, why?"

"They're my brothers. I used to be the youngest on their team but got kicked out because I had lost their first battle," Nathan told her.

Alyssa felt sorry for her friend, "That's a bit harsh," she commented.

Tala overheard them and decided to join in their conversation, "Where I came from, we were not allowed to stay if we lost a battle against an outsider," he said.

Nathan and Alyssa looked his way with interest as he hardly ever spoke of his past.

"Did you also get kicked out for losing?" Nathan asked.

Tala shook his head, "No, I chose to leave."

As they ate their lunch Mariah asked, "Rei, do you get the feeling that we're missing something?"

Rei took one last bite of his dumpling before answering, "I don't think so, the famous Dark Angels are battling in the third match so I think it's alright."

"If you say so," Mariah replied, although there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice. The girl looked out the window and watched the pedestrians walk to and fro. The two youths were both lost in their thoughts for a moment.

Ricky and Melanie were both attacking each other furiously. The beyblades were rebounding off the ragged rocks into the sandy surface of the beydish. They spun around the dish amongst the rocks swiftly and with an accelerating force every turn.

"Ema, show yourself!" Melanie shouted. From her beyblade came a grey emu type bitbeast. The bitbeast had the power of speed and the beyblade encircled Ricky's blade with an increasing velocity.

Ricky didn't like the look of the emu and called out for his own bitbeast to appear, "Brolgaris!" soon a tall brolga emerged from the centre of the beyblade and spread its lovely wings.

The two birds attacked each other constantly and the two owners urged them on.

"Come one Brolgaris, you can beat that emu!"

"Ema, show them the power of speed!" Melanie called out.

The grey beyblade was now spinning so fast is caused a mini sandstorm to develop.

Amongst the crowd, Tyson was particularly interested in this move as it resembled his Dragoon's storm attack.

"Hey Chief, could you get me the stats of that sandstorm?" he asked Kenny.

"Sure thing Tyson," Kenny replied, he and Emily were already busily setting up the equipment to record the data.

"This is very interesting, Kenny," Emily stated.

"Really?" Kenny asked, "How so?"

Emily went on about the similarities and the differences between Dragoon's storm attack and this girl's sandstorm.

Ricky was having difficulty seeing what was going on in the dish as he had to shield his eyes from the sand that was flying everywhere as a result of the storm. Melanie thought this was amusing and with a smug look on her cheeky face she commanded Ema to make the storm larger. It was then that Ricky noticed something about the storm, no matter low large it became the sand only reached a certain height.

An idea brewed in the young man's mind, "I got it!" he thought, with that he made Brolgaris jump amongst the rocks and climb up until the blade was moving along the edge of the beydish. The storm gained on him but the blade soon jumped thought the centre of the storm. Melanie thought the victory was hers. However, she was mistaken. The blade had jumped through the centre of the storm where there was no force and smashed right into the opposing beyblade causing it to break into two parts.

The storm ceased and Ricky noticed the young Melanie on her knees with the broken beyblade. He grabbed his blade then lent his hand to her.

"You battled well Melanie," he told her. She looked up in surprise and smiled sweetly. "I'll pay for the repair of the beyblade." he offered.

"Isn't that lovely," DJ Jazzman said, "The winner of this battle is Ricky from the Shade Brothers but young Melanie bladed well!"

The spectators were all satisfied as they cheered for both the young beybladers.

"Ok, for the second battle we have Phil representing the Shade Brothers battling Jim of the Beykids!" DJ Jazzman said.

Phil wore his signature shades like his brothers and black trousers but wore his clean green shirt untucked and he had his hair long with two thin bangs and a pony tail. His opponent Jim was about age 10. His short brown hair was messy and he wore a simply T-shirt and shorts.

"The dish for this battle is based on the Murray Mouth. The river water gushing out into the sea, land on one side and ocean on the other. Get set bladers, 3, 2, 1et it rip!!" DJ Jazzman called out.

"Go Atrax!" Jim called out as he released his beyblade. Phil released his at the same time without and word. Both of them went straight onto the sand near the river mouth. Phil was careful to dodge Jim's blade's attacks and soon realised that at the rate they were going they'd end up drenched in salty sea water.

Jim commanded his beyblade to attack Phil's blade but Phil moved to the side and Jimmy's blade dived straight into the sea. There was silence amongst the crowd and all that could be heard was Phil's beyblade spinning aimlessly along the grass and the dirt. Suddenly, movement could be seen coming from the once silent sea and Jim's beyblade with its glowing tunnel web spider like bitbeast from its centre and water was gushing around it almost like a whirlwind.

Every once in a while a blast of water mixed with spider web came out at Phil's beyblade.

Phil frowned, then shouted, "Pegasus, come out now!!" a grand looking Pegasus with pale green wings emerged from the beyblade and neighed in anger. "Defend yourself against that blast!" Phil instructed. In an instant Pegasus flapped its wings and blew the watery blast off course. However in doing so, he also blew Phil's beyblade to the edge of the dish. Jimmy noticed this at once and told Atrax to attack, the force caused Phil's blade and Pegasus to topple out of the dish. Jimmy was clearly the winner and he cheered happily.

Phil was disappointed but being the calm sort of person went up to Jimmy and shook his hand in good spirit.

"Now that's what you call a graceful loss, Phil's no sore loser!" DJ Jazzman said.


	16. Battle Of The Monotremes

"Thanks for the great lunch!" Mariah said to Jin, who shrugged and laughed.

"We better head back now," Rei said, "Come, Mariah."

"Right," Mariah responded and started following him.

"Have fun kids!" Jin called after them as they left with one last wave.

"Um...Rei, y'know how your uncle said I was your girlfriend...mm..." Mariah stuttered as they walked to the stadium.

"Mm?" Rei looked at her, "Hasn't it been obvious how I feel?" he commented.

"I suppose so...but-"

"No 'buts' Mariah," Rei said and he pulled her towards him, "I love you and though I never said it I do think of you as my girlfriend."

The two looked at each other with love and a blush. Then they kissed on the lips for the first time. After the passionate kiss Mariah gasped, "Oh dear, we better start going back before we miss the Dark Angels' match!"

Rei smiled, "Yeah..." Once again he grabbed her hand and they started walking speedily through the crowd.

At the arena in the Sydney Stadium DJ Jazzman announced the next battle, "The last battle for this match will be the captain of the two teams. Martin of the Shade Brothers and Kyle representing the Beykids."

Martin was tall and had dark hair that was short and spiked up at the front. Under his red short-sleeved shirt he wore a white T-shirt and he also had on black trousers like his brothers. His opponent Kyle was short with a black cap on, and a matching tracksuit with white piping.

"This should be interesting battle with the dish that will be used, it's a maze constructed with wood and miniature hedges ensuring that the beybladers will need to find each other first before they may battle. Ok beybladers, get ready now, 3, 2, 1 let it rip!!

The beybladers were off making their way through the strange maze of a beydish.

"That's the weirdest dish I've ever seen!" Alyssa commented.

"Al, this is the only official tournament you've ever entered, you haven't seen nothing yet!" Nathan said.

The girl frowned then punched him lightly on the shoulder and stuck her tongue at him. Tala watched his companions and smiled. He though the way they acted around each other was humourous.

Meanwhile Martin and young Kyle were slowly guiding their beyblades through the maze. Eventually Martin got impatient and by the time he got to the hedges he started hacking them up with his sharp blades. Kyle saw this and thought he's follow suit to speed things up so he sawed through the wooden maze until the maze was nothing more than a mass of messed up bush and wood chips.

"Heh heh," Martin cackled, "Now the battle begins," he said.

"You said it man," Kyle agreed and with a sly smiled he commanded his bitbeast to show itself. The beyblade glowed an eerie green colour. Then a green echidna appeared. It was smaller than your average bitbeast.

"Don't let Ekidna's size fool you, he's a tough bitbeast." Kyle boasted.

Martin didn't let his guard down and dodged the bitbeast's initial attacks. Eventually the attacks that kept missing were getting on Kyle's nerves and Ekidna jumped up hight, rolled into a ball and headed straight for Martin's beyblade.

'This is getting ridiculous,' Martin though and at that moment he let his bitbeast out. The bitchip shone a bright red before the platypus like bitbeast emerged.

"Platii!" Martin called out. In response the red platypus dodged the attack and striked the echidna from behind. Ekidna yelled in surprise.

"Watch out Ekidna!" Kyle warned and the bitbeast turned around and blocked the next attack.

The beyblades were smashing into each other in all directions. The bitbeasts both glared at each other. Both were exhausted after battling so hard and the owners sensed this as well.

"Ok Platii, one last blow to finish him off!" he said.

"Get that platypus with all you got Ekidna,' Kyle instructed.

The bitbeasts got into their attack stance and went in for the final attack to determine the victor. It was difficult to see at first as there was a loud explosion followed by billowing smoke. The smoke cleared and Martin's beyblade could be seen still spinning wobbly while his opponent was out cold.

"And the winner is Martin and his bitbeast Platii!!" DJ Jazzman called out and while most of the spectators cheered Nathan and the rest of the Black Sheep were speechless.

"This mean we may face then soon," Nathan noted.

"Mmm hmm," Alyssa mumbled in agreement.

"We'll see about that," Tala commented as the victory of the Shadebrothers was officially declared.

"Now, we'll have a brief intermission before the last match for today. Feel free to purchase and food or drink items from the cafeteria, located near the entrance," DJ Jazzman said.

The crowd chatted excitedly knowing the Dark Angels would be battling in the following match,

"Guess that's our cue," Ling said.

"Right," The other three replied in unison and they followed their captain to the arena.

After running for a while Rei and Mariah finally arrived at the Sydney Stadium just before the last match. The two stood at the entrance, their fingers intertwined.

"Guess we should part for now," Rei said reluctantly.

"Yeah, I 'spose so," Mariah sighed.

With one last kiss the two let go of each other and went their separate ways to find their fellow team mates.

Rei looked around trying to recall where his team sat when he heard a projected call from afar. He smiled as he recognised the voice as Tyson's immediately and followed the voice to his seat.

"Rei, where've you been, you missed a great match!" Tyson told him.

"I went out for lunch..." Rei replied.

"Right..." Max said with shifty eyes then he and the others (excluding Kai) told him of the match between the Shade Brothers and the Beykids and how the Shade Brothers were victorious. Rei listened with great interest almost regretting his date with Mariah.

Soon, the lighted dimmed slightly as DJ Jazzman appeared under the spotlight.

"Ok Folks, this is the moment you've been waiting for. The mtach with the Dark Angels battling to remain the best in Australia!!"

"Dark Angels clap clap clap Dark angels!..." the crowd chanted and the spotlight shifted from DJ Jazzman onto the Dark Angels.

Sara waved and smiled a dazzling smile. The others also waved but without as much enthusiasm. Ling was the only one not noticing the crowd. Instead she continually stared at the shadows across the beydish, their competition.

"The Dark Angels are quite popular," Kenny noted

"They are known to be quite skilled," Max commented.

"Shh...the opposing team is going to be announced!" Tyson said. The Bladebreakers shut up and waited for DJ Jazzman to speak.

"Aren't they just lovely," DJ Jazzman commented, "Anyway their opposition for this match will be the Fire Spinners!

With that the spotlight shifted once again to the opposing team. There were four members, three boys and one girl. All of them had bright orange hair that made Emily's amd Nathan's hair seem dull.

"First we have Sara from the Dark Angels up against Frank from the Fire Spinners. Both of them are determined beybladers and both have skill behind them. The beydish used is a classic dish built with randomly placed models of the "Big" structures around Australia. the Big Lobster, Bid Merino, Giant Koala, Big Orange and the Giant Worm. Now let the battle begin, 3, 2, 1 let it rip!!"

The players launched their beyblades and watched as they manouvered amongst the structures which were surprisingly detialed. Both of them were determined to win.

"Let's not waste time," Frank said, "Attack!" his red beyblade smashed Sara's light blut blade against the model of the Big Merino causing the structure to shake violently.

"Sara's got a tough opponent," Kenny said, "Frank's power is increasing with every smash!"

Sara appeared worried, "How am I going to beat him," she wondered.

So how will the battle go? Tune in next time to find out!

Author's note:

I'd like to note that monotremes are a type of mammal that lays eggs to reproduce. Platypuses and echidna's are both monotremes and hence the chapter title.


	17. Angelic Fight

Sara was having difficulty avoiding Frank's beyblade as hers swerved past the numerous models of 'Big' structures.

"Sara, you better star fighting instead of running away," Frank the redhead called out and laughed, "I expected more from the Dark Angels."

This last comment angered the pretty blonde and she snapped at him, "You leave the others out of this!"

He was taken aback for a second but soon forgot and concentrated on the battle.

"Go Sara!" Kylie cheered out.

Sara turned around and mouthed a quick thanks. Soon the supporters of the Dark Angels started cheering for Sara, "Sara clap clap clap Sara...!" The blonde girl looked around and smiled with gratitude to those who were rooting for her. "Ok Zhugin, you know what your need to do," she said to her bitbeast.

"Wow, it seems that the Dark Angels are more popular than us!" Max exclaimed.

Kai rolled his eyes and thought, 'obviously!'

"Well duh!" Tyson said, "Almost all Australians adore then. I'm not surprised though, especially someone as cute as Sara," he added.

Rei smiled, Max giggled and Tyson looked between the two. "Why're you lookin' at me like that..."

"Heh heh heh," Max cackled, "You like her don't you..."

Tyson blushed with realisation of what he had just said. Kai glanced his way mildly amused and smirked but soon averted his attention to the battle in the arena.

At that moment both the beyblades moved amongst the models at maximum velocity and were about to crash into each other head on. The bitchips glowed brightly on both beyblades. Sara's a warm pink while Frank's was a fiery orange colour. Then the two magnificent bitbeasts showed themselves.

The Bladebreakers were surprised to see that Sara's bitbeast was a wild pig that looked very muscular, almost bulky. Nevertheless, the crowd admired it adoringly and Sara stared at her with pride.

Frank's bitbeast was a large cat-like creature which screeched with anger. "Show that fat pig what you're made of Catsy!" Frank commanded.

They glared at each other then both went in for the attack. Zhugin had her head low and charged for the cat ready to head butt it while Catsy had his sharp claws up ready to scratch the pig. There was a loud bang as the beyblades crashed into each other, their respective bitbeast attacking furiously at each other, calling out in agony. Things became very chaotic within the beydish, the models were shaking and even the owners were getting nervous.

The bitbeasts were forced apart. Deep scratch marks were visible on the wild pig but Catsy also had a number of bruises from all the head butting. It was obvious that they were both weak and injured. Catsy retreated and Sara instructed Zhugin to do likewise. However , the pig looked Sara in the eye and spoke to her telepathically, 'I won't give up...if you don't.'

Sara nodded in response and shouted, "Right, finish him off!!" The pig crashed into the beyblade one last time sending it flying out of the dish and landing right in front of Frank's feet.

"No..." Frank stared in shock.

"Alright, I won!" Sara cheered, the crowd soon joined her, "Sara clap clap clap Sara..."

Kylie and Bella rushed to her side for a group hug. Once they walked back to the booth Ling also congratulated her, "You fought hard Benson, and prevailed," she said coolly and put her hand on the blonde's shoulder. Sara knew this was a compliment coming from the captain so she smiled in return.

"Shall I go next?" Kylie asked.

The dark haired girl nodded in approval so with a smiled and a peace sign the Aboriginal girl walked to the arena.

"Now, for the second battle we have Kylie from the much loved Dark Angels and Geoff from the Fire Spinners. The dish this battle will take place is the Great Barrier Reef like dish. It has a long strip of coral and a slippery wet surface making it difficult to literally get a grip. On your marks, 3, 2, 1 let it rip!!"

The beybladers launched their beyblades quickly. Kylie's golden beyblade landed on top of the coral reef while Geoff's red blade landed on the slippery wet surface of the beydish.

"This is interesting Kenny, don't you think?" Emily asked.

"I suppose you could say that. Both of them are in odd situations. What makes this particular case even more interesting is that they have exactly the opposite problem," Kenny commented.

"What do you mean by that?" Max interrupted all of a sudden interested in the topic of conversation.

"Well, it's simple. Kylie is struggling to balance on the rough coral surface whilst Geoff is having difficulty getting a grip of the wet surface," Kenny said.

"Precisely," Emily added, "Meaning that they'd need to overcome those small problems before even thinking of attacking."

Kylie was annoyed, "Why did I have to land on the coral!" she thought, "this is really starting to bug me."

Geoff's blade moved in strange ways along the edge of the beydish. It was revolving around the coral reef at a constant speed. This got Kylie thinking as she observed her opponent's behaviour.

"Hrm, this is just crazy enough to work!" she thought and immediately put her plan to action, "Yurlunggur, come out and strike!" she commanded. A long slithering snake bitbeast emerged and shone with all the colours of the rainbow. It was one of the most beautiful bitbeast that anyone, particularly the Bladebreakers had ever seen.

"This is amazing!" Tyson exclaimed, "Hey Chief, can you find out what elemental powers it has?"

"Right, I'm looking it up right now," Kenny said as he typed away on his laptop.

"Whoa Kenny, there's no use in inputting all that data so fast, there's only so much I can process at once!" Dizzi remarked with her typical attitude.

"Sorry, but we need this info as soon as possible."

After a moment Dizzi said that she found it. Everyone looked at the computer screen.

"Yurlunggur is an ancient spirit, the great rainbow snake in which in the Aboriginal dreamtime stories is depicted as being the creator of the landscape, rivers and water holes."

"That's strange, does it even have an elemental power?" Rei asked with curiosity."

"Mmm...It's hard to say but from what we have gathered it seems not. However Yurlunggur is apparently one of the most powerful of the ancient bitbeasts," Emily said.

"Interesting," Kai said.

Meanwhile the rainbow snaked had positioned himself ready to attack the unsuspecting 'prey' with its watchful eye and with Kylie's guidance it watched the beyblade's movement carefully.

Geoff was getting nervous and was about to call out his bitbeast when Yurlunggur striked, giving the beyblade a powerful blow. Geoff's blade was almost knocked out of the dish, but the bitbeast was summoned just in time to fly back, it was a golden yellow coloured owl which flapped it's wings with such force to pull the beyblade back into the dish and onto the rough coral surface where Yurlunggur stood. The rainbow snake glared at the owl-like bitbeast with piercing eyes. Geoff glanced at Kylie who had the same expression on her face.

"Hedowl attack!" Geoff commanded. Hedowl went into offensive mode and swooped down onto the snake with a fierce attack. The two bitbeasts fought hard. Yurlunggur was struggling to break free but the owl's claws had a firm grip of the scaly skin. Soon, Hedowl flew up, carrying the snake with him. The rainbow snake hissed in pain and Kylie watched with shock as her precious bitbeast was being beaten up. After flying up a certain height Hedowl remained steady at that height before dropping Yurlunggur down. The force of gravity pulled the beyblade down with an increasing acceleration causing it to crash loudly onto the edge of the coral.

Yurlunggur had no choice but to return to the bitchip. The beyblade rebounded off the coral onto the slippery surface where it collapsed and fell over.

"No..." Kylie gasped in shock but it was to late, for her beyblade had clearly stopped which mean she had been defeated.

"And the Victory goes to Geoff!!" DJ Jazzman shouted.

With her head down low in shame Kylie slowly made her way back to the booth. Sara put her hand on Kylie's shoulder to comfort her, she had a concerned look on her face. Kylie smiled sadly and waited for Ling to scold her. However, as a captain Ling was tough, she had to be, but she was also fair.

"You did your best," she said, "But Yurlunggur had a significant disadvantage against a bird so I don't blame you for the loss."

Kylie found this reassuring and sat down to rest. Ling then turned to face the dark blue haired Bella and told her, "It's your turn."

"But Ling-" Bella started.

"No buts, you will battle. My decision is final," Ling confirmed.

"That was unexpected," Enrique said. He and the rest of the Majestics had witnessed the battle amongst the spectators.

"Yes indeed," Oliver agreed, "That snake bitbeast did seem awfully powerful."

"Being powerful doesn't necessarily mean a definite win," Robert said.

"That doesn't make sense!" Johnny snapped.

Oliver thought for a moment, "Actually, it does. The Fire Spinner had an owl for a bitbeast. Having the ability to fly gave it an advantage over the snake," he concluded.

DJ Jazzman soon announced the last battle, "The deciding battle of this match will be between Bella of the Dark Angels and Gina from the Fire Spinners!"

Who will win this battle? Find out next time!

Author's note:

If any of you have seen Angelic Layer then you'd know where I got the title chapter from.


	18. Darkness Be My Friend

Bella Cerrachio, who was usually calm had a serious look on her face as she got into position to beybattle. Her opponent Gina of the Firespinners looked just as determined to win.

DJ Jazzman continued, "Bella and Gina are both experienced beybladers, it'll be tought competition between the both of them. The dish is a simple dish that at first appears to be your average classic bowl. However, if you look closely you will notive that the surface is not smooth but bumpy, making blading a little rough. Now without further ado, lets battle, 3, 2, 1 let it rip!!"

At the launch Bella's blade was already spinning and revolving around the dish at high speeds, Her opposing beyblade was also rotating quickly but remained put in the spot in the middle.

Gina sneered as she watched the beyblade's movements and mocked Bella, "You think spinning around my blade will intimidate me? Well then you are so wrong girl!"

Bella remained silent but continued revolving faster and faster around the other blade. Gina continued to mock Bella but she appeared unaffected bu the remarks and was concentrating on the battle in the dish.

Gradually something unexpected occured. There was a gust of wind coming from the beydish spreading around the arena. Gina's red hair blew around in all directions and Bella's ponytail and headwrap flapped violently. Her expression still unmoved. There appeared to be a mini-storm within the dish.

"What the -" Gina exclaimed but was speechless when she witnessed her blade seemingly floating in mid-air. Soon it became apparent that Bella wsa controlling a cyclone usuing her blade and bitbeast's awesome power.

"What kind of crazy bitbeast does that?!" Gina yelled out.

Bella smirked, the first expression of any feeling, and simply stated, "mine..."

The beyblade started glowing and everyone, especially Gina were waiting with anticipation to see what kind of a bitbeast was so scarily powerful. Suddenly a rabbit like creature appeared in an offensive pose. This came as a surprise to everyone as it had an almost innocent appearance. However, that was only at first glance. With a closer look it was apparent that it was indeed quite strong and, much like it's owner Bella, disguised it's darker self.

Bella cackled, knowing she'd soon be victorious and shouted, "You haven't seen anything yet Gina. Baitu unleash your power!"

In response the rabbit type bitbeast jumped up high, the beyblade not far behind.

"Dark Rabbit kick!" She commanded and the beyblade smashed right into the opposing beyblade causing the attach ring to crack and blade to wobble and stop.

"No way..." Gina whispered and fell onto her knees with shockk, Her red-headed companions rushed to her aid and Bella was announced victorious.

"- which means the Dark Angels advance to the next round!"

As usual the crowd cheered but Bella and the other Dark Angels sensed an odd aura from them all.

The petite girl retrieved her beyblade, then walked back to the booth where her team mates were.

"Well done!" Sara said cheerfully, "That was great!"

Bella smiled and Kylie congratulated her as well and she received a pat on the back.

Ling then approached her, smiled, ever so slightly and said, "I must say I'm impressed. You seemed to have no difficulty winning that battle."

"Really?" Bella asked, she was pleased with the compliment.

Ling nodded in reply and Bella jumped for joy. This hypo happiness was short lived as soon as they headed out of the stadium with the rest of the crowd. Instead of congratulating her on her win they kept their distance as if they were afraid. Bella thought this was unusual and questioned her friends, "Why are people looking at me so differently?" she whispered.

Kylie seemed hesitant to answer. Sara on the other hand said with shifting eyes, "Well...you did seem a little...how do I say this...mad when you got Baitu to attack. Don't get me wrong I don't think you're craz-"

"It appeared like all you wanted to do was trash the other beyblade." Lind interrupted.

Bella thought this was odd but didn't ask anymore, "I see..." she said quietly.

"Hey, you're Bella aren't you, from the Dark Angels?" an unfamiliar girk asked with excitement as she walked towards.

Bella, who was pleasantly surprised said, "Yeah, I am, and they are Sara, Kylie and Ling," she said as she pointed to the rest of the team.

"Wow, your match was awesome, especially your battle!" the girl said, still talking to Bella.

"Why thank you very much," She said.

The girl, who appeared younger than Bella despite the two of them being the same height, had light brown hair tied in two messy ponytails and was beaming with confidence (unlike many of the fans they'd encountered in the past.)

Bella looked closely at the girl's outfit, for some reason the girl seemed familiar but she had no idea where she had seen her before.

The girl giggled, "You should see the look on your face, it's hilarious!"

Ling then interrupted, "Wait a sec, aren't you that girl from the Black Sheep, the one that got a new bitbeast earlier?"

"Eheh...guess I should've mentioned that earlier," the girl said with nervous shifting eyes and giggled once again.

"Oi Alyssa!" a male voice called out. The five girls turned to see two taller boys, one had red hair spiked up in two parts and the other had stylishly messy orange hair. It was the redhead who had spoken.

"Ok, ok I'm coming!" Alyssa called back. She whispered to Bella, "Tala can get impatient sometimes, I'll catcha later!" With that the girl ran off with her team mates.

"Well, she was an enthusiastic girl!" Sara commented.

"That, and she didn't seem to notice my odd behaviour in battle at all," Bella said in reply.

Ling shook her head, "I doubt that. Lets not forget that she must be a skilled beyblader to qualify for the Australian Tournament," she said, "No, I think she just doesn't care about that one incident."

"That match was awesome!" Max exclaimed as he and the rest of the Bladebreakers left the Sydney Stadium.

"You said it Max," Tyson agreed, "I don't think I'll be forgetting that bitbeast Yurlunggur."

"Nor would I," Kenny joined in, "But that last battle was extraordinary. Did anyone notice Bella's expression?"

There was an awkward silence for a second. Then Kai spoke, "I think we all did."

Emily was starting to feel out of place amongst the guys so she excused herself, "Um, I think I'll go catch up with Judy and the others," she said, "I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

"Bye!" Kenny called out as the girl turned her back and went her way. The proud computer geek sighed and looked up into the darkening sky.

"What's the matter chief?" Tyson asked smiling like an idiot.

"Oh, it's nothing," kenny replied with a subtle look on his face..

"Y'know, maybe you need a break," Max suggested, " After all, there are still a number of teams battling the first round. We've got a while before our next match!"

"Lets not forget our training," Kai said, "We've got to prepare ourselves physically and mentally for our next match."

"I think Kai's right, We have been sorta slack since our match with the Outback Kids," Rei agreed.

Kai smirked, "I'm glad someone agrees with me."

"But I promised Emily I'd meet her back at the stadium tomorrow!" Kenny cried out.

"Hrm..." Tyson thought out loud, "She can come watch us train! In fact, all the All Starz can!" he exclaimed.

The other four boys looked at him with large shocked eyes.

"What...they're already out of the game so we don't really need to worry about them knowing our moves."

"He's got a point," Max said with a shrug.

"Whatever," Kai muttered.

A loud grumble could be heard right at that moment. Tyson put his hand on his tummy and exclaimed, "Don't know about you guys but I'm starving!"

"Tyson!" Kenny started.

"Eh?"

"You can be such an idiot somethimes."

Rei then suggested, "Let's get dinner, I know a good place."

At that moment the five boys relaxed and laughed heartily, even their captain Kai, as they followed Rei.

Kali was pacing around her hotel room deep in thought when she got a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" she called out in annoyance.

"That's not how you should be speaking to your master," Boris's deep voice spoke.

Kali rushed to the door to open it.

"I do apologize sir," she said and Boris stepped into her prestige room.

"You are aware that the others are training at Master Voltaire Hiwatari's grounds, aren't you?" he asked.

Kali sighed, "Yes I am. However I have more important things on my mind."

"Do you refer to young Kai Hiwatari?"

"Sort of...I mean how do you expect me to get him to join the Demolition Boys again! Why me?!" the girl shouted.

Boris looked down at the girl, pulled her chin up so she was staring straight into his cold eyes.

"You're still a beautiful young child," he said, "You'll find a way, my dear."

Kali looked at him speechless with her bright red eyes. Her thoughts were racing madly.

Boris smirked and let her go, "Unfortunately I have more important matters to attend to. Plus I need to check up on the boys. You know how reckless they can get." With that the tall man departed, leaving Kali alone with her thoughts.


	19. A Day Off

Once again Kai woke up early in the morning feeling awake and refreshed despite the dark sky. He quickly changed into his outdoor clothes and grabbed his Dranzer blade and launcher before heading outside for his morning walk. He decided that since he would be training with the others the whole day he wouldn't need to practise hard that morning.

The tall boy let the breeze blow through his ruffled blue hair. He walked to Darling Harbour and watched the sunrise reflect off the sparkling seawater. "This is the start of a brand new day," he thought with sincere smile. Usually Darling Harbour was bustling with people but early in the morning it was quiet with few people wandering around. Kai preferred it this way, the shops were still closed and with not many people around the place had a peaceful atmosphere.

After walking for a while Kai decided it was about time he got some early practise done so he headed towards the park. At first the park was as quiet as the other surroundings but as he approached the beydishes he heard the spinning sound of a beyblade and a heavy panting, He knew who it was immediately. The spinning stopped for a second then Ling called out, "Let it rip!!" and at the same time released her purple and black beyblade into the dish.

"Morning Ling," Kai greeted, "I see you're training hard."

Ling looked up for a split second and acknowledged Kai's presence with a small smile as she was focussing on her beyblade which spun at an increasing velocity.

"You of all people should know that being a good beyblader doesn't happen overnight."

Kai smiled, "Can't argue with that."

Ling continued, "It takes time and dedication and you gotta train heaps to beybattle at your full potential."

"I'm glad somebody shares my views."

Ling's blade stopped spinning and she retrieved it from the dish, "Have you also been training hard since you were young?"

Kai nodded, "Beyblading has become my life, so to speak."

"One thing..." Ling started.

"Yes?"

"Well, while you practise do you have fun with it?"

"Rarely," Kai replied.

"I see, that's the difference between you and me. We both take beyblading seriously as a sport. However it seems that I'm the only one who enjoys it as well," Ling commented.

Kai stared at her almost as though she came from another planet. "Isn't that contradicting yourself?" Kai asked curiously.

"I don't think so," Ling replied, "After all. I find it fun to play at my best!" A huge, happy smile spread across her face. "You should try to have fun with beyblading as well!"

Kai looked at her with his eyes wide open and said, "I was taught to take my beyblading seriously," he said.

"And so you should," Ling said, "because you are a professional, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it."

"But-"

"No buts about it Kai. It's food for thought," she said and dismissed the topic. "By the way, would you like to battle?"

"Um, I guess so," Kai replied with uncertainty.

Ling giggled, "C'mon, don't be such a bum. A beybattle isn't gonna hurt you!"

The two beybladers positioned themselves, both of them prepared to release their blades. Together they called out, "3, 2, 1, let it rip!" the blades were then launched into the dish and they moved smoothly at high speeds. Both of the players controlled their blades with precision.

Last time the two of them had battled the result was a tie. Neither one of them were prepared to let that happen again.

"Oxilibra attack!" Ling commanded.

"Defend yourself Dranzer!" Kai called out. However, Oxilibra was too quick for Dranzer's defences and the blue beyblade was knocked out of the beydish. Ling was the victor.

"I won!" Ling cheered, "But you were a tough opponent to beat," she said sincerely.

Kai smirked, "Can't argue with that!"

Ling then shoved the boy playfully and said sarcastically, "You are like, soo modest!" and with a giggle the two of them mucked around for the rest of their time together.

Later that day the Bladebreakers, apart from Kenny who went to fetch Emily, gathered at a nearby park. They were ready to do anything their captain asked them to do.

"Today we will not be attending the Australian Tournament but instead we will train hard for our next match," Kai spoke with authority.

Kai then instructed, "Now get into position ready to battle with all your might!" They followed his instructions and looked a little strange doing this as they didn't have their launchers or beyblades on them, "Now let it rip!"

The boys pretended to launch a beyblade and did it a number of times as a form of exercise as well as practise for the real game. They also did a number of push-ups, sit ups and ran around a basketball court many times. Kai had joined them in these activities and the four boys were exhausted by the time Kenny came with Emily and the other All Starz, although Steve wasn't with them.

"I tried to convince Steve to come," Emily explained, "but he just refuses to practise with another team."

"That's a shame," Tyson commented, "but at least we have you guys to train with."

Each of the Bladebreakers partnered off with an All Starz player while Kenny recorded their battle data on his laptop with the help of Dizzi and Kai observed carefully.

Meanwhile at the Sydney Stadium, Kali was searching for the Dark Angels. After seeing Bella's dark side the purple haired girl felt she had a chance of convincing her to join the Abbey crew. "Dammit, where could that short girl be?" she thought with frustration.

Bella who was with the rest of the Dark Angels was still disturbed by the previous day's battle. However she was quickly cheered up when Alyssa greeted her with a wave.

"Come on now, the first match is about to start!" Sara urged.

"Lets go, Dark Angels," Ling said and the other three followed her. "I wonder where the Bladebreakers are," Ling thought.

"Y'know, it's weird," Kylie commented, "I haven't seen the Bladebreakers at all this morning, have any of you girls seen them?"

"No, I haven't," Bella replied.

"That's weird," Sara commented, "Neither have I."

"Maybe they're busy," Ling suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," Sara said quietly with disappointment as they headed for their seats.

Back at the park the Bladebreakers battled hard against the All Starz with advice from Emily and Kenny. They defeated their opponents nearly every time.

"You're all doing great," Kai commented sincerely.

"Thanks Kai," Rei said happily.

Tyson had a large cheesy grin on his face, "Hey, you can't expect any less from the World Champions!" he said.

"You know," Max agreed, "He does have a point."

Everyone laughed heartily as they continued their vigorous training. They all felt good about themselves that day. Particularly Tyson who was so happy he had a huge grin on his face.

"Let it rip!" he called out as he released Dragoon's blade into the dish to battle against Michael. The two fought hard but Trygle was no match for Tyson's Dragoon.

"Good game," Tyson said and put out his hand to shake Michael's.

"Yeah," Michael said with a disappointed smile, "I guess I still got a fair bit of training to do myself."

"That's why I bet you last time at the American Tournament," Tyson boasted, "You guys were relying too much on the technology and not using enough skill."

"That's right," Kenny commented, "It's one thing to have a first class beyblade it's another to be able to use it's full potential. There's got to be a balance between skill and use of technological assistance."

"Like, whatever Chief!" Max butted in, "It's just a game-"

"I know it is but that doesn't mean you should take the sport lightly."

A great match had already passed at the Sydney Stadium and it was during the intermission when Kali once again went in search for Bella, "Now then, where could she be?" she thought as she wandered around. At that moment she spotted Bella and quickly approached her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Huh? Who just tapped my shoulder?" Bella asked as she turned around.

"I did," Kali replied.

"Oh, it's you Kali," Bella said.

"Yes it's me," she said as she remembered that Bella was there when she first introduced herself to Kai, "May I speak with you in private?"

"I s'pose I could," Bella said with uncertainty, "Hey guys, I'll meet you back at our seats."

"Ok, but you better not take too long, the next match is gonna start soon," Ling told her.

Kali lead Bella outside, "where we can talk in private," she had said.

Bella was suspicious of Kali's motives but followed her anyway.

"So what was it that you wanted from me?"

"I have a proposal you just can't refuse." Kali told her, "After your recent battle I figured that you would be a suitable candidate to join a new Beyblading team I want to start. You'll be able to train at the top facilities. It'll be great!"

Bella shook her head, "I'll be sticking with the Dark Angels. I'm just not interested-"

Before Bella could finish her sentence Kali placed a handkerchief over Bella's face. Bella felt drowsy. 'What's happening to me?' she wondered as she went unconscious.

"Like I said before," Kali said quietly with an evil smile, "It's an offer you just can't refuse."


	20. Finding Bella

"Where am I?" Bella asked as she regained consiousness.

"Ah, you're awake now," Kali commented, ignoring the question. The two of them were alone in Kali's luxurious hotel room. Bella had been tied to a chair.

"What do you want from me?" Bella asked.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten already. Those drugs I used on you should've only made you sleepy, not forgetful." Kali said.

"I'm just not interested in joining your team, especially by force."

"Oh, but think of the possibilities. You haven't properly thought about it yet. Maybe you need a bit more persuation..."

Back at the stadium the Dark Angels were wondering where Bella was.

"I'm a little concerned about Bella at the moment," Sara said.

"She has been gone for a while." Kylie noted.

"True, but she's a tough girl, she can look after herself," Ling said.

"If you say so," Sara said with uncertainty.

Meanwhile the Bladebreakers had finished training for a while and were taking a rest before some more practise.

"Y'know, I was just thinking, wouldn't it be interesting if we got to battle the Dark Angels," Tyson thought out loud.

"Yes, it would be, but if we do I think that'll be later in the competition," Rei said.

"Yeah, they'd be the first opponent we've befriended beforehand."

"It would definitely be interesting either way," Kai said, "Anyway we should continue our training." With that, they all stood up and continued their exercises.

"How about we battle. If I win, you stay with me, if you win you have your freedom," Kali suggested.

"Sounds reasonable," Bella replied through gritted teeth, she was annoyed by the situation she was in.

The two girls positioned themselves at a nearby dish opposite each other.

"Let it rip!!" they called out as thet launched their blades.

"Let's see if I can get Bella to unleash her dark side," Kali thought. The two bladers battled hard while Kali silently probed Bella's mind.

"Something is not right about this battle," Bella thought, "There's no way it would be this difficult to beat someone."

"C'mon Bella, show your true self!" Kali thought.

"I feel a strain in my mind, I can't take this any longer!" Bella thought.

"Almost there..." Kali thought.

"Ahh!!" Bella screamed with rage, "I've had enough of this!!"

"Yes..." Kali silently cheered with her success.

Bella's blade smashed into Kali's blade causing it to fly out of the dish. Despite Bella's victory, Kali smiled.

"I've gained my freedom, but I've changed my mind about not joining your team," Bella said as though in a trance.

"Excellent," Kali said, "Let's battle."

The two girls got out their beyblades and launched them into the dish once again.

Meanwhile back at the stadium the second match for the day had already passed and still there was no sign of Bella. Even Ling was beginning to worry about their fellow team mate.

"Something is not right and I bet it has something to do with Kali," she thought as she clenched her hand in a fist, "I just hope Bella's alright."

"You seem distracted Ling," Kylie said, "I think by now even you would be concerned for Bella."

"We all are," Sara noted.

"We can't just stand around and do nothing. It won't help Bella in any way," Ling said with determination, "We've got to find her."

"How do we go about doing that?" Kylie asked.

"We've got to search for her, even if it means we've got to paint the town red," Ling replied, "Come, lets split up and look for her. It'll be faster that way."

"Roger that," Sara and Kylie said together.

The three of them went to the entrance and went their separate ways to find Bella.

"I just hope we're not too late," Ling thought.

Kai watched as his fellow team mates practised their beyblading against the All Starz members, apart from Steve, and felt that they had learnt a lot that day and he was proud of his team at that moment. However, as he watched the Bladebreakers battle his thoughts wandered off to other things as he flashbacked to his childhood at the Abbey...

--Flashback--

After his second beybattle with Kali Serkovsky, 5 year old Kai had become interested in the purple haired girl. He now acknowledged the fact that she could beybattle quite skilfully, that particular battle had proved that.

For many days during their training sessions Kai would often look in the direction of the girl. He wasn't the only one. Being the only girl of the many children at the Abbey, Kali attracted a lot of attention. However, it seemed that either Kali was unaware or too busy training to care.

Sometimes Kai could've sworn she had looked his way but he may have been mistaken. After all, why would the only girl at the Abbey pay attention to him?

One evening, after the training session Kai went exploring the Abbey. He wandered around mindlessly until he ended up outside beside the Abbey building. It was there that he heard the distinct sound of a beyblade spinning around. The sound was coming from behind the building and being the curious boy that he was, Kai went to investigate. As he turned the corner a beyblade flew into his direction. Luckily he dodged it before it reached him.

"Kai, what do you think you're doing?!" a female voice hissed.

"Kali?!"

"Yeah, it's me. Now answer my question!"

"I was just wandering around..."

"Don't you know the rules, if you get caught wandering around you'd get in deep trouble!" Kali told him.

"Then what are you doing out?" Kai questioned.

"I...um...ok...I sneak out even though we're not meant to. The training sessions are not nearly enough to develop any skills so I come out here to practise each evening," Kali confessed.

"Oh I see..."

"Um...Kai?"

"Yeah, what?" Kai asked.

"I was meaning to talk to you and now that you're here I wanted to say sorry for acting the way I did during our last battle."

"Eh, I deserved it. I never realised girls could beyblade until that day."

Kali then laughed, "Boys will be boys!" she exclaimed, "Anyway, lets call it truce."

"All right," Kai agreed. There was an awkward silence for a moment.

"So now what?" Kai asked.

"I dunno, maybe we could be friends or something..." Kali replied.

"But you know the rules!" Kai exclaimed. In the short time he had been at the Abbey he had learnt that forming friendships with other members was forbidden.

"I know, but being here for a while...it gets lonely, don't you agree?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Kai replied, "Ok, we can be friends but we've got to keep it secret, just between the two of us, got it?"

"Yes, Kai."

Suddenly from the corner of his eye Kai caught a glimpse of red hair but it soon disappeared around the corner.

"What's wrong Kai?" Kali asked.

"It's nothing," Kai said though he was sure he saw another kid. "He better not dob us in," he thought.

From that evening onwards the two of them met at the same spot behind the building and trained together each evening.

One of these evenings Kali suggested they do something to remember their friendship by.

"Like what?" Kai asked.

Kali then brought out a box with face paints in it. "I thought we could do something with these." The two of them then painted simple designs on each other's faces'. Kai had two blue triangles painted on each cheek while Kali had two purple lines painted diagonally across her right cheek.

--Flashback ends--

Kai touched his cheeks, 'So that's when I started painting my face,' he realised. Suddenly he heard the sound of someone running and panting. It was Ling.

"Hey, you guys!" Ling called out.

Everyone in the group stopped and started at the Chinese girl.

"Have any of you seen Bella and Kali?"

'Kali,' Kai thought, "What is Bella doing with Kali?" he asked.

"There's no time to explain," she replied.

"Sorry, I don't think any of us has seen them," Tyson stated.

"In that case I better go!" Ling said, then she ran off.

'Wonder what that was all about,' Kai wondered.

"At this rate I'll never find her," Ling thought with slight anger as she continued running in search for her friend. It was then that she heard the sound of beyblades spinning. She stood in front of a fancy hotel. 'That's strange, I wonder where that sound is coming from. It sounds very near," She looked around and noticed an alleyway. She went in and saw Bella beyblading against Kali. "Bella, finally I found you, lets go!"

There was no response from Bella, not even any acknowledgement.

"Something is not right..." Ling thought.

Kali then spoke up, "Your friend here has been in a trance-like state ever since she unleashed her dark side."

"What's this talk about her dark side?" Ling asked.

Kali laughed, "See for yourself, she's more powerful than ever!"

"Bella..." Ling said softly. She clenched her fists before taking out her beyblade and launcher, "Bella I challenge you to a battle!"

Bella turned around and smiled wickedly, "All right then..."


	21. Battle For Friendship

Ling and Bella stood at the opposite sides of the beydish. Both of them had a look of determination as they both got their launchers ready.

"Let it rip!" they both called out as they released their beyblades into the dish.

'This should be interesting,' Kali thought with a smirk on her painted face.

Both of the blades revolved quickly around the dish, neither one of them made an attempt to attack.

"What are you waiting for Ling?" Bella asked, "Are you too afraid to attack?"

"There's no way I'd be too afraid to beybattle...plus I never give up on a challenge that I made!" Ling called out.

"Then prove it," Bella said calmly.

However, before Bella even finished her sentence her beyblade was already being attacked by Ling's blade.

"I refuse to lose to you Bella!" Ling shouted.

"We'll see about that," Bella replied and responded with he defense against Ling's attacks.

Ling gritted her teeth, she didn't like having to battle her best friend and team mate but with Bella in a trance-like state there was no other way to save her.

Kali observed quietly on the side, she didn't want to intefere with the conflict between the two friends. She looked at Ling and noticed how difficult it was for her to beybattle her friend, Bella.

"Who would've thought that two friends going at each other would be so interesting. Both are determined but in the state that she's in , Bella is much stronger and is sure to be victorious and together we will serve Boris Balkov and Master Voltaire Hiwatari." Kali thought. With that she smiled slightly and continued watching the battle.

The beybattle between Ling and Bella was constantly changing. The two kept swapping from offense to defense mode, neither of them doing any significant damage.

"If only I could get through to the real Bella, then I wouldn't need to be battling her in the first place," Ling thought and then cursed, "This isn't good."

At that moment Ling's beyblade started glowing a silver colour, "Even Oxilibra can sense my anger," Ling thought.

Ling continued to attack Bella still with no effect. While Ling was getting more and more frustrated Bella remained calm, in her trance-like state she was practically emotionless.

"There is no point in continuing this pointless battle," Bella said. With that she launched a counter attack that took Ling by surprise.

"Dammit..." Ling cursed. Fortunately her blade didn't get thrown out of the dish so she still had a chance of winning. She clenched her fist and decided that no matter what happened during that battle that she'd defeat Bella and get her friend back to her normal self. "I know the real Bella is in there somewhere!" Ling called out to her friend.

Kali then stepped in and said, "The friend you knew no longer exists."

"You!" Ling yalled, "You were the one that got her into this state!"

"Tsk tsk, You better not get distracted. I want to see Bella beat you at your best," Kali replied.

Ling gritted her teeth, she was very angry at Kali but knew that if she was distracted that she'd lose the battle.

Bella's beyblade accelerated towards Ling's blade but just before it could make contact Ling's blade swerved to the side, just barely avoiding the attack.

"You were lucky that time, I'm not going to miss next time," Bella stated.

"Bring it on," Ling said quietly. She planned to attack head on.

"Now this is more like it," Kali thought.

"All this attacking doesn't seem to be doing any good, Maybe Oxilibra can beat her," Ling thought, "Oxilibra, show yourself!" she commanded.

At that moment the two beyblade glowed once again and Oxilibra came out from the purple and black beyblade.

"Hmph," Bella responded, "So you think your pitiful bitbeast can help you...well two can play at that game, Baitu come out now!" With that the rabbit-like bitbeast also came out of its respective beyblade. The two bitbeasts stared at each other and got into offense mode.

"Oxilibra attack!" Ling called out to her bitbeast. Oxilibra went in for the attack and shoved the rabbit-like bitbeast to the side. However soon Baitu countered with an attack of its own.

"Grr..." Ling grunted, "This is not looking good" she thought. She looked at her current situation, "The only real advantage I have is strength, Bella's blade has the speed and agility...but if I can reach out to the real Bella then maybe I still have a chance..."

"Bella, no matter what I'll get you back to your usual self!" Ling promised.

"Pfft, whatever..." was all Bella said.

"Don't you remember the good memories? Like the time we first met the Bladebreakers and Tyson challenged me to a battle, when I defeated him?"

"Why are you talking about those things?" Bella questioned.

"Because those were times before you got into this creepy state...that's why"

Meanwhile as Ling reminded Bella of other past events (that didn't occur in this story) Baitu seemed to back off from Oxilibra. Bella's beyblade also slowed down considerably as Bella got more and more distracted from the battle.

Ling thought, "She's starting to think of her past..."

Bella was getting confused, "Why am I letting myself get distracted from the battle?" she wondered, "Is this battle really as pointless as Ling says it is?"

"The fool! How could she get distracted so easily!" Kali thought with annoyance, "Bella! concentrate on defeating Ling. She is no longer your friend!" she shouted.

"Don't listen to her Bella, we're still the best of friends, all of us Dark Angels are best friends. Please listen to me Bella" Ling pleaded.

Bella stood by the dish dumbfounded while her beyblade continued to spin somewhat slowly. Baitu didn't make a move.

"Should I even be battling Ling?" Bella thought.

As if to answer Bella's unasked question Ling called out, "Let's stop this pointless battle!"

"Don't you dare consider stopping the battle, it'll mean admitting defeat and you don't want that do you?" Kali pointed out.

"I won't stop this battle," Bella decided.

"Why?" Ling asked, "As I said before there is not point in continuing this battle."

"Because I want to see if I can beat you in this 'dark' state I'm in," Bella stated simply.

In response to this statement Ling smiled, "Bella is starting to sound more like her usual self." She said, "If a beybattle is what you want then a beybattle is what you shall get."

Bella's blade started speeding up while the rabbit-like bitbeast got in position to attack the massive ox. Oxilibra also got ready to attack. The two blades revolved quickly around the dish.

"Oxilibra attack Baitu with everything you got!" Ling commanded. With that the ox charged at the rabbit, but the rabbit swiftly dodged the attack. Its respective beyblade swerved to the side.

"Dammit." Ling thought with annoyance, "If only Bella wouldn't insist on battling."

"You gotta be quicker than that if you plan to defeat me Ling," Bella said with a smirk.

"That's it...Oxilibra attack with a headbutt!" Ling shouted.

"Baitu, attack with Dark rabbit kick!"

The two beyblades once again went head on, they were continuously attacking each other.

Not long after the bitbeasts disappeared back into their respective beyblades and the two beyblades started to wobble.

All three girls watched carefully to see which one would stop first, and just by a second Ling's blade stopped later than Bella's.

Bella fell to her knees in disbelief, "I...I lost," she whispered.

She was no longer in her trance-like state.

"It's alright Bella," Ling told her friend, "Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, it's all part of life. The most important thing is that you learnt a lesson from all of this."

"I'm sorry..." Bella apologised.

"Don't worry about it," Ling said and looked around for Kali.

"Hey that's weird, Kali's gone," Ling stated.

Kali knew that she had lost Bella as a potential team mate. As soon as Bella's blade stopped, she quickly and quietly left the scene, into the hotel.

From her the window in her room she could see the two best friends depart the alley and head back to where they came from. "It's been a long day," she thought.


	22. A Battle of Endurance

For the next few days the Bladebreakers and the rest of the teams that we've come to know) watched the remaining matches until the first round was over. 

On the first day of the second round of the Australian Beyblading Tournament the teams that were competing were announced by DJ Jazzman. The crowd was excited about the following matches, especially those for the day. When the Bladebreakers arrived they went to check the notice board to see who they were up against. Their opponents turned out to be the White Tigers and their match was first up.

Rei cringed at the thought of having to battle against his girlfriend's team again, especially since the two of them just recently confessed their feelings for each other.

"Hey Rei, what's wrong?" Tyson asked, "If it's about the White Tigers I'm sure we'll defeat them again this time round."

Rei hadn't told any of his team mates about him and Mariah yet. "That's not it…I…just don't like battling my former team mates, that's all."

"I don't see why," Kai butted in, "I had no problem battling against the Demolition Boys."

"I think it's different in Rei situation because we're friends with the White Tigers now, whereas that's no the case with the Demolition Boys," Max stated.

"Still, that's like saying you won't battle any friends!" Tyson said, "That's ridiculous, you battle us when training, why can't you battle them?"

"You're right Tyson," Rei agreed, "Don't worry guys, I'll get over it."

"Great, because we'll be battling them soon, in fact I think we should get ready now." Tyson voiced, and with that he headed off. Max, Kenny and Kai followed Tyson leaving Rei standing alone.

Rei looked at the notice board again when he heard a familiar voice say, "Looks like we're up against each other again." Rei turned around to see Lee, the captain of the White Tigers, the other White Tigers were with him.

"Lee-", Rei said.

"Let's hope it's a good match, and may the best bladers win," Lee said and stuck his hand out,

Rei shook it and told them they should all be getting ready for the match, before heading off to the main arena.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ok folks, you've all been waiting for this moment. Our first match of the second round of the tournament will be the White Tigers against last year's world champions thte Bladebreakers," DJ Jazzman announced. The crowd cheered with excitement as the teams got into position at the booths. "First up will be Gary from the White Tigers versus Tyson from the Bladebreakers!" The two players got into position at the beydish, "Both of them have incredible strength and love to eat to keep their strength at its maximum so either one of them could win."

"Now lets check out the beydish for this battle, it's a wooden dish with grooves from the centre of the dish coming all the way to the edge. Now with out further ado let the battle begin!"

"Let it rip!" the two beybladers called out as they launched their blades into the unusual dish,

Tyson needed to adjust to the wooden surface. He thought to himself, 'The wooden surface is not as smooth as the classic dish's surface (I'm still unclear of what the classic dish is made of though I'd assume it's metal or plastic of some sort) and with the bumpy grooves it makes it even harder to manoevour.'

Meanwhile Kenny and Emily were finding out how to use the dish to their advantage.

"I think I got it," Kenny said to Emily then he ran up towards the beydish, "To defeat Gary in this particular dish you'll not only need strength but endurance," he told Tyson.

"Say what Chief?" Tyson asked.

Kenny sighed and rephrased his statement, "To beat Gary you'll need make sure the blade keeps spinning longer than Gary's blade as well maintain your strength."

"Ah, gotcha Chief!" Tyson said and kept this in mind as he made a move towards Gary's beyblade."

"So you think you can endure this battle better than me, we'll see about that!" Gary exclaimed.

"Yeah, you show him Gary, we've been using wooden dishes to practise with back at home," Kevin called out, "you're sure to win, even with the grooves."

"I don't care how much practise you've had, I'm not giving up without a fight!" Tyson stated.

Tyson went in for the attack, Gary did likewise which resulted in a spectacular display of flying sparks.

The crowd cheered with excitement for this was what beybattling was all about to them - action.

The two beybladers battled it out with all their might, Their team mates supporting them.

'This doesn't look good,' Tyson thought, ' Gary sure has improved a lot since we last met.'

"Hang in there Tyson, you can do it!" Max called out.

"I hope so," Tyson whispered.

"I'm starting to lose my patience!" Gary shouted, "It's time for Galzzly's bear axe attack!"

Gary's bitbeast Galzzly then appeared from the beyblade and got ready to attack.

"Not so fast, Dragoon, counter attack!" Tyson commanded. Dragoon then appeared to defend Tyson's blade.

The battle between the two beasts was fierce and their respective owners were getting tired out.

Tyson thought as he puffed, 'I've never had to endure a beybattle like this before, but I know I can beat Gary.'

Gary commented, "I see why you're world champion, you've battled well Tyson."

After hearing this Tyson smiled, "Thanks Gary, you've been battling pretty good yourself."

All of a sudden Tyson's blade skipped along one of the grooves towards the centre of the dish at a very fast speed. Tyson made a mental note of this unusual movement and it occurred to him how to beat Gary. While Gary kept trying to attack, Tyson dodged these attempts with ease.

As the two bladers battled it out thet became more tired, their blades were starting to slow down, The two beyblades were revolving at opposite sides of the dish. Tyson was deep in concentration, he paid close attention to the rhythm of the blades, then just before Gary's blade was about to reach one of the grooves Tyson made his move. Dragoon reached the same groove and swiftly moived along the groove for a speedy attack. The damage to Galzzly was great as the attack came as a surprise to Gary so he wasn't prepared.

Both blades continued to spin slowly but because of the damage caused to Gary's blade, it stopped first.

"And there you have it folks, after an intense battle of endurance the victory goes to Tyson!" DJ Jazzman announced.

The crowd cheered happily knowing that the current world Champions were one step closer to winning the match,

Gary was disappointed but hten he smiled and said to Tyson, "That was a great beybattle. I look forward to the next time we battle."

Tyson nodded in acknowledgement the left the dish feeling satisfied with his win.

"Good on you Tyson!" Max exclaimed, "That was excellent thinking, using the grooves to your advantage like that."

Tyson was about to thank Max for the compliment but Max continued, "Anyway, now it's my turn to battle."

DJ Jazzman soon annouced the next battle,

"Ok, now it's time to begin the next battle, this time we have the lovely Mariah from the White Tigers against Max from the Bladebreakers."

"Now lets check out the dish. This time we have a miniature structure of none other than the new National Parliament Hourse and its surroundings. On a count of three let the beybattle begin, 3, 2, 1 let it rip!"

Mariah and Max both pulled their ripcords of their launchers and went in for a head on attack.

* * *

Author's note:

I sincerely apologise for not updating this fic in such a long time...I'm surprised I got any reviews at all since I last checked. Ok, so I only got one review since I last checked, from Ame-sama asking me to update...whoops ' ah well, well, you asked for an update and here it is! I hope you liked it and please review!


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